Nightfall
by Above the Winter Moonlight
Summary: Post TUE AU. Stranded on an island harboring many secrets, Danny Fenton teams up with his archnemesis, his crush, his parents, his sister and his best friends in order to survive. All the while, he is dealing with the haunting nightmares of an alternate timeline he managed to prevent and trying to keep his secret from being revealed...Chapter 6 posted
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note: **To be perfectly honest with you, this idea came to me in a dream. Yeah, you heard me, a dream. I decided it was a good idea and I decided to type it up; it's my first story to take place only a few days after TUE. And yeah, I know I've started a lot of stories but this idea would not leave me alone. I also changed a few little things; since it's in first person POV, I changed it so that Danny's parents will be referred to as mom and dad when they're talking. I hope that you enjoy it and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

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_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Danny Phantom, I never have, I never will and I am only saying this once so I will not repeat it in later chapters_

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**Nightfall**

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**Chapter One**

My sleep is haunted by nightmares. I barely close my eyes before I am witnessing it again; the explosion, the debris flying in all directions, the knowledge that the lives of my friends and family have been torn from me. I wake up covered in a cold sweat a scream escaping my lips before I can stop it.

I know that it was prevented. Clockwork's timely arrival stopped it from happening and my friends and family were safe but my night's are still haunted by the memory. I just want to forget it ever happened and yet I know that I never will. Clockwork left me with the memories of what happened. When I asked him why I couldn't just forget, he told me it was so that I would always know and understand what happened.

I didn't get what he said then and I still don't but then that's Clockwork for you.

My scream must have woken someone in the house because the door opens and light spills into the room. I am sitting up on my bed trying to calm myself, taking deep breaths when I feel the bed sink as someone sits on it.

"Danny?" My sister, Jazz, says concern in her voice.

I try to tell my sister that I'm all right but nothing comes out. Instead, I remain silent. Besides, I know that she won't believe me if I do tell her I'm all right. She is an up and coming psychologist and she knows exactly what happened only two days ago. She knows that what happened is not something I can overcome instantly.

She stretches out a hand and places it on mine. "Was it another nightmare?" she asks.

I know that she won't leave until I give her something so I say, "Yeah."

"Same one?"

I nod.

"Oh Danny, have you talked to anyone about these nightmares?" Jazz asks.

I just shake my head. "I don't want them to worry. It was prevented," I say.

"But you're still dealing with it, Danny. You should talk to someone about it. You know I will listen to you," Jazz says.

"I don't want to talk about it," I snap and instantly regret it when my sister flinches. "I'm sorry, I just…I'm not ready."

Jazz sighs and changes the subject. "Do you still want to go on the trip?" she asks.

The trip Jazz is talking about is a weeklong trip to France where a ghost-hunting convention is taking place. My parents were invited to go but I learned later that it was being funded by Vlad Masters, my archnemesis. However, my parents decided to go and, since it took place during the week of spring break, my sister and I get to go too.

My parents also told me that Vlad would be traveling to the convention with us, much to my displeasure. I'm not looking forward to that so I asked my parents if I could invite Sam and Tucker. It took some convincing but, eventually, my parents agreed. It would have been perfect if Vlad hadn't invited Valerie to go with us as well.

Valerie Gray, the girl I've been crushing on since the Pariah Dark incident, the girl who also has a grudge against my ghost-half. I am unsure of what to think about Valerie being invited to attend the ghost convention. As far as I know, no one but me, Sam and Tucker know about Valerie being the Red Huntress. But Vlad has been spying on me so I wonder if Vlad knows Valerie's the Red Huntress and that's why she was invited.

Either way, I managed to get Sam and Tucker to come with. The biggest trouble I had here was convincing Sam's parents; her grandma ended up being the one who convinced them to let her go by saying that it would be a learning experience for her and that she could use a break from Amity Park. I got to hand it to Grandma Manson; she's good. She managed to convince Sam's parents in all of ten minutes.

I don't know if Valerie is going though.

Anyway, I do want to get out of Amity Park even if it means traveling with Vlad; maybe getting out of the city will help me with my nightmares.

"I still wanna go, Jazz," I say.

"Are you sure?" Jazz asks.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I think it might help to get out of the city for a while," I say.

Jazz is silent for a long moment before she squeezes my hand. "While I agree this trip might help you, I just wanted to make sure since Mr. Masters is coming and you don't seem to like him that much," she says.

"I'll have Sam and Tucker, Jazz," I say.

"All right. You should probably get some sleep. It's three in the morning and we're leaving early," Jazz said.

I yawn. "I'll try," I say. That is all I really can do. My nights have been almost entirely sleepless for the past two days since it happened.

Jazz nods before she gets up and I watch as she leaves the room leaving the door slightly ajar. I don't know why she did that but I'm not going to argue.

I lie back down and close my eyes but my sleep is not as dreamless as I want it to be.

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I wake up tired beyond belief to the shrill ringing of my alarm.

Slamming my hand on the snooze button, I yawn and sit up before I groggily get out of bed. I really don't know how I'm going to make it through the nine hour trip to Paris. Especially not when I'm in the company of someone I loathe and someone who loathes half of me, that is supposing Valerie decides to come with.

I manage to take a shower and change into the clothing I always wear before I, still tired, grab the backpack, duffle bag and suitcase I packed the day before. The hot shower did nothing to wake me up so I'm still half-asleep.

I make my way downstairs, somehow without tripping despite not paying much attention—ghost hunting really is helping me with my natural clumsiness and the fact that I don't pay attention sometimes—before I stop by the door to put my stuff with Jazz's and my parents' since they are already awake. I walk into the kitchen and slide into the closest empty chair I can find, which is beside Jazz, before I yawn.

Jazz looks at me. "You look like you didn't sleep at all, Danny," she says.

I just grunt. I'm not a morning person as it is but when I have no sleep, I'm even worse.

Jazz knows that so she says nothing.

My parents know that to but that doesn't stop them from talking to me.

"Good morning, Danny," my mom, Maddie, says. She hands me a glass of orange juice and a plate of bacon and eggs. I accept both mumbling a "good morning" and a "thanks".

"This is gonna be fun, Danny-boy," my dad, Jack, says with a grin where he is eating his breakfast. "This is gonna be your first ghost convention."

I grunt and sip at my orange juice.

"You don't seem too excited," Dad says sounding disappointed.

"He didn't get much sleep last night," Jazz says. She doesn't tell my dad that I didn't get any sleep last night, for which I'm thankful. The last thing I want is for my parents to become concerned or think I'm an insomniac. In a way, I am but not because I can't sleep; it's more the stupid ghosts who attack in the early hours of the morning won't let me sleep.

"I'm sure he is really excited though, dad," Jazz adds.

Dad grins. "I know I am," he says.

The doorbell rings and Mom makes her way into the living room. "Oh hello Vlad, come in," I hear her say. "We're just finishing breakfast. Would you like anything?"

"No thank you, my dear," Vlad's voice says. "Maddie, this is Valerie Gray, the young woman I invited to come with us to the convention."

So Valerie did decide to come to the convention. I wonder how she convinced her dad to let her go.

I finish eating and make my way into the living room. Valerie is standing beside Vlad with her duffle bag, suitcase and backpack that I know contains her ghost-hunting equipment in her hands. She smiles when she sees me and I manage a small tired smile in response.

Mom finishes greeting Valerie before saying, "Danny's friends Sam and Tucker are coming as well. I hope that won't be a problem?"

Valerie looks uncertain at the mention of my best friends' names and I know that is only because Sam and Tucker don't trust her and she doesn't know why they treat her with such hostility at times. I know; it is because she wants to waste half of me.

"Not at all," Vlad says smoothly, his expression unreadable. If he really does mind, he hides it well as usual.

"Hey Vladdie!" Dad says as he makes his way into the living room and gives Vlad a big bear hug.

"Hello…Jack…I kind of…need to breathe," Vlad says forcing himself to sound breathless though I know he is faking it. Why? Because half-ghosts don't need to breath and he is a half-ghost just like me. Of course, my parents don't know that.

"Oh sorry," Dad says releasing him.

Vlad straightens out his suit. "The plane will be leaving in an hour," he says. "Will everyone be here by then?"

"I can call and tell Sam and Tucker," Jazz offers.

I blink gratefully at her as I yawn, once again wishing Clockwork had just erased the memory of what happened or at least told me the real reason why he wants me to remember rather than giving me that cryptic answer. But then, I am talking about Clockwork.

Jazz walks into the kitchen while Valerie moves to my side. "Didn't get much sleep last night?" she asks conversationally.

I yawn again. "No," I admit.

"And why is that, little badger?" Vlad asks.

I glare at him. "Don't call me that," I growl not answering his question.

Vlad simply smirks.

Jazz walks into the living room. "Sam and Tucker are on their way," she says hanging up her cell phone.

About ten minutes later, I'm talking to Valerie when the doorbell rings. My mom opens the door and Sam and Tucker, dragging their suitcases behind them, walk into the townhome. Sam stops when she spots Valerie though and she narrows her eyes. "So you decided to come with?" she says to Valerie.

Valerie nods. "It took a lot to convince my dad but he finally agreed to let me go," she says. "I think he's just glad I'm getting out of Amity Park for a while."

I feel that it's probably more that her father is glad that this trip will get her away from ghost-hunting for a while. That is what this trip will be for me; a break from ghost-hunting. Of course, if I spot a ghost then I will not hesitate to go after it and I'm pretty sure the same goes for Valerie.

"I'm just glad my parents let me go," Sam says.

"Gotta love your grandma," Tucker says with a grin before he looks at me and frowns. "Hey, dude, you all right? You look like you haven't slept in a long time."

I yawn again and shrug. "Didn't get much sleep last night," I say.

Sam's eyes fill with concern but she says nothing. She doesn't know the real reason why I haven't been getting much sleep, if any, the last couple of days though I won't be surprised if she figures it out. She does know what happened two days ago. She just doesn't know about the nightmares and I'm not ready to tell anyone about them.

"You can always sleep on the plane," Dad says. "We are going on Vladdie's private jet, right?"

"I told you that a week ago," Vlad says.

"Just wanted to be sure." Dad is grinning ear to ear and he walks over to the collection of suitcases, duffle bags and backpacks. "Let's get going."

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The airport is crowded, so crowded that I wish I could just walk through everyone to get to the terminal without revealing my secret. As usual, that is just wishful thinking and I'm thankful that Desiree can't grant wishes unless they are said out loud.

I'm walking between Valerie and Sam with Tucker on Sam's other side. Dad is talking loudly with Vlad standing between him and Mom.

"I'm still trying to fix the Boooo-merang," Dad is saying. "It keeps targeting Danny for some reason. We've tried to get it to stop doing that but it won't."

I rub my head. The ridiculously named boomerang has hit me more times than I can count since it was made. While the name can be better and I hate that it keeps tracking me, I don't mind what it does entirely; it is because of the boomerang that Jazz was able to get her message to me two days ago.

Valerie looks at me. "Are you okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say hoping I sound convincing.

We reach the terminal and Vlad leads us to his sleek, white private jet. I drop to the rear of the group and Vlad joins me. I look toward him. "So what's the big plan this time, Plasmius?" I can't help but ask keeping my voice low so that no one can hear me. Sam and Tucker are in front of me but they already know Vlad's secret.

"Why must you always assume there is a plan, dear boy?" Vlad asks.

"I know you."

"I am simply being a good friend and giving your parents a ride to a ghost convention. Is it so hard to believe that this is all I am doing?" Vlad asks.

I pretend to think about it for a moment though I already know my answer to that. "When it comes to you, yes," I say.

Vlad simply gazes at me with that impassive mask of his. "Believe what you wish, little badger," he says before he makes his way into the jet.

I scowl and follow him.

Despite the fact that I really should have expected this, the interior of the jet takes me by surprise. Comfortable looking chairs occupy half of the cabin with the other half looking like a lounge; there are two couches situated across from each other and a table around which are chairs; all of which are bolted to the floor of the cabin. There is also a big TV hanging from the wall in the corner next to the door leading into the cockpit of the jet.

"Make yourselves at home," Vlad says.

My parents take the table and immediately began looking over their notes, their blueprints and the inventions they brought with them to show at the ghost-hunting convention. I join Sam and Tucker on one of the couches; Tucker is already raiding Vlad's mini-fridge. Valerie is seated on the couch across from us and Vlad joins my parents at the table

I look over at Valerie as I accept the can of coke that Tucker tosses at me. "Hey, Val, you can join us if you want," I say deciding that I don't want Valerie to feel like she's being left out. She may hate Phantom but she and Fenton are friends; at least, I hope that we are.

"Want anything to drink, Val?" Tucker asks. His head is still in the mini-fridge but he pulls his head out in order to toss a bottle of water at Sam. She catches it and begins looking at the label probably to see if it was recyclable or not.

"Just a coke is fine," Valerie says as she, looking uncertain, walks across the cabin floor to join us. I shift a little to give her some room on the couch and she sits down beside me catching the coke that Tucker tosses at her. She waits for it to calm down so that it doesn't explode on her before she opens it.

"This is your pilot speaking, please strap yourselves in. We are beginning takeoff," a voice sounds over the intercom.

I put my coke in one of the cup holders and stand up before I walk over to the seats making sure to sit as far from Vlad as possible. As it is two to a row, Sam sits next to me while Tucker and Valerie sit in front of me. Vlad, Jazz and my parents are in the first two rows.

I turn my gaze to the window and watch as the jet glides forward and it isn't long until we are in the air and the pilot tells us that we may move around the cabin.

Mom stops me as I'm making my way back to the couch though. "Danny, why don't you try to get some sleep? You still look tired," she says.

"I'm fine, mom," I say. I'm not as tired as I was earlier.

"Danny, go get at least a few hours of sleep," Mom says firmly; she obviously doesn't believe me.

"But…"

"Now Danny."

"Your mother's right, Daniel. You look like you need rest," Vlad says.

_Do I care what you think?_ I think.

"Both of 'em are right," Dad says.

Great, three against one.

"All right, I'll try and get a few hours of sleep," I say.

Key word there; try.

I don't know why every time I close my eyes, I see something that's associated with that day. The explosion, Dan, the devastation in the future, older Valerie getting attacked; sometimes it's only one thing, sometimes it's more than one, all times it has me waking up covered in a cold sweat and unable to go back to sleep.

As I expect, I can't go to sleep. As soon as I lie down and close my eyes, I see it again. I see my parents, my sister, Sam and Tucker and Mr. Lancer tied to the vat of condiments that are overheating. I see the ectoplasm that keeps them pinned to the vat and keeps them from screaming for help. I see Dan laughing as he is sucked into the thermos.

"To weak to escape—and you're too late to save them," Dan says just before he vanishes into the thermos.

And then the vat explodes.

"No!" I scream.

"Danny!"

Someone is shaking my shoulders and I open my eyes to find my sister gazing worriedly at me. She removes her hands when she notices I'm awake and I notice that my parents are standing off to the side unable to get to my side because Jazz is in the way. Behind them stand Sam, Tucker and Valerie; all of whom have a mix of concern and confusion in their eyes. The only one who doesn't seem overly concerned is Vlad but I'm positive I see a spark of concern in his eyes.

It might have been a trick of the light though.

"Danny?" Jazz says.

I shake my head. "Why do I keep having these nightmares, Jazz?" I whisper. _Why must I keep reliving that moment in my life every time I close my eyes?_ That question remains unasked but that is only because my parents and Valerie are in earshot.

Jazz smiles gently and, too softly for anyone else to hear, she says, "I think it is just your mind's way of telling you that you need to talk about what happened, everything that happened, with someone but it could also be your mind's way of coming to terms with what happened."

I don't respond to that. I know I'm not ready to talk about everything that happened, not with Jazz, not with Sam and Tucker, not with anyone. They know quite a bit of what happened but they don't know everything. The only one I can talk about what happened with is Clockwork and that is only because he already knows everything that happened.

"Danny, are you okay?" Mom asks gazing at me with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it was just a bad dream," I say softly and wince at the looks Sam and Tucker are giving me. I'm positive they don't believe me.

Mom doesn't look convinced either but, before she can say anything, Jazz says, "Why don't you rest? You don't have to sleep. Just rest."

I think I can do that. I nod and Jazz stands up before looking at my parents. "If Danny wants to talk about his dream later then he can but, for now, let's leave him be," she says.

I blink gratefully at my sister. I know that Sam and Tucker want to know the real reason why I woke up screaming but I'm just not ready to tell them. Maybe someday I will be but, for now, I'm not.

I refuse to close my eyes so I simply gaze at the ceiling of the cabin. I try to rest but I find that I can't. You know those feelings you sometimes get when something bad is about to happen? Well, that is the feeling I'm getting right now and I don't know why. I don't know if it is leftover from my nightmare or if it is something else entirely. All I do know is that it is there and it is getting stronger.

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**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: as I said in the author's note, this takes place only two days after the end of TUE and I just don't see Danny as getting over what happened quickly. And like I also said, I fixed a few mistakes I made 'cause I forgot about which POV I was in.**

**Darth: yeah, neither do I, and okay. And?**

**Blaze: and I fixed the inconsistencies in tense that I found**

**Darth: cool**

**Blaze: so I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story (the title may change by the way) and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Thank you to the 4 people who reviewed the first chapter. You guys are the greatest. Here is chapter 2 and I hope that you like it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

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**Chapter Two**

You know that bad feeling I was having that I thought was just leftover from my nightmare? Yeah, it hasn't gone away. It's been a few hours since my nightmare; we are somewhere over the Atlantic and that bad feeling will not leave me alone. It keeps getting worse as if it's trying to warn me that something is about to happen. It's times like this that I wish I could be like Clockwork and know everything.

Okay, maybe not everything but at least why I'm having this feeling since I really don't know.

I try to get my mind off this feeling, and off my nightmare, by talking with Sam, Tucker and Valerie but we're quickly growing bored. My parents and Vlad are discussing my parents' newest invention, which they will be showing to the other hunters at the ghost convention, and my sister is reading.

"I'm bored," Tucker complains.

"So am I. There's gotta be something here that we can do since we still got six hours 'till we reach Paris," Sam says.

"Hey Vladdie!" I shout deciding to just ask him.

Vlad glares at me. "I'm not ten feet away, Daniel. You don't need to shout," he snaps.

"We're bored," I say not responding to that.

"You can help us with our invention, son," Dad suggests.

I grimace. "Please tell me you've got something for us to do," I say.

Vlad rolls his eyes. "Lucky for you, I thought ahead. There are games here for you to play, not video games though but games. They're in the box next to the mini-fridge," he says.

I look at my friends. "Well, let's see what the fruitloop has to help us pass the time," I say.

"Why do you call him 'fruitloop'?" Valerie asks while Vlad, hearing my words because of his ghost powers, glares at me again.

I shrug. "It's a long story," I say standing up before I walk over to the box. Sam joins me.

"Danny, what really caused you to scream earlier?" she asks.

"It really was a bad dream, Sam," I say.

"It's more than that though, isn't it?"

I remain silent as I open the box and began pulling out several board games. "I don't want to talk about it," I say.

Sam doesn't pry, for which I'm thankful. She helps me carry the board games over to where Tucker and Valerie are sitting. Sitting down and sorting through the board games, I see _Monopoly, Clue, Trouble_ and _Risk._

"So what do you want to play?" Sam asks as she also looks through the games.

"Hey, let's play Monopoly," Tucker says before looking at Jazz. "Jazz, do you want to play Monopoly with us?"

Jazz looks up from her book before she shrugs and, saving her spot, closes her book before putting it down. "All right," she says standing up and walking over to join us.

Tucker pulls out the Monopoly board and we pick our pieces; I decide to go with the top hat while Sam chooses the dog, Tucker gets the wheelbarrow, Jazz gets the shoe and Valerie gets the racecar. We begin playing though it's been sometime since I last played Monopoly.

While we are playing, I can hear Vlad talking with my parents about the convention. "It's going to be a big one," he is saying. "Possibly bigger than ones you've attended before."

"Most of the ones we've gone to have been pretty small," Mom says.

"Yeah but it's gonna be great getting to meet more hunters than usual," Dad says.

"Dude, it's your turn," Tucker says pulling me from my parents' conversation with Vlad.

I take the dice looking at the board before I frown when I notice that Tucker's piece is already in jail. "How can you already be in jail? It's the first turn," I say.

"I landed on a stupid chance space first turn and the card that I picked was 'go directly to jail'," Tucker mutters.

I chuckle. "First time that's happened," I say rolling the dice. I got a three on one and a two on another so I move five spaces before handing the dice to Sam.

She rolls and advances landing on a chance card. When she picks it up, she grins. "Bet you could use this right now, Tucker," she says putting the 'get out of jail free' card next to her paper money.

Tucker scowls.

Valerie chuckles, takes the dice and rolls it before moving the number of spaces. "Bow Street? Hmm, nah, I think I'll pass on that," she says.

"Anyone else wanna buy it?" Jazz, who is playing as the banker, asks.

No one responds.

"Okay then." She takes the dice and rolls it before moving and handing the dice to Tucker.

"Come on doubles," Tucker says and rolls to get a four and a three. "Dang it."

I chuckle.

We play for about an hour before most of us are eliminated because we're bankrupt. In the end, it's Sam and Valerie playing. I'm sitting on the couch watching the game while sipping at a can of coke and Jazz is back to reading her book.

"I got sent to jail five times," Tucker complains.

I chuckle. "Not our fault you keep landing on that space or picking that card," I say.

Tucker glares at me as I finish the coke and toss it into one of the bins in the jet.

"Besides, didn't Sam and I always say that you'd be the first to end up in jail out of all of us?" I add.

"That's not true," Tucker protests hitting me with a couch cushion.

I grab my own cushion and hit him back with it. "Yeah it is," I say.

"If anyone'll get sent to jail first, it's Sam," Tucker says.

Sam grabs the cushion out of my hands and hits Tucker with it. "I would not," she snaps.

"You were the one who released all the animals at the zoo when we were eleven," Tucker points out.

"It wasn't all of them," Sam says.

"You released all the animals at the zoo?" Valerie echoes.

"Not all of them."

I chuckle. "She couldn't get to all of them," I say and wince when Sam hits me with the cushion. "What? It's true."

"My mom's still upset about that," Sam says.

"So who ended up winning?" Tucker asks.

"Sam," Valerie says.

"Figured, she always wins this game. Why don't we play Risk now?"

"I doubt we'll be done by the time we reach Paris. The last time we played that game, it took us eight hours to end it and then we only ended it 'cause my parents told us to," I say.

"Good point. What about Trouble?"

"Only four can play that game," Valerie says.

"You four go ahead and play," Jazz says.

"You sure, Jazz?" I ask.

Jazz nods.

"All right."

For the next hour, that is what we play though it became clear that, as with Monopoly, Valerie and Sam are determined to beat the other; they are competitive but then I know Sam is competitive. I just didn't know Valerie was too but then I don't know Valerie that well beyond what I learned when we spent time together during the Pariah Dark incident. I also know that she can hold a grudge since she is holding one against my ghost half but that's beside the point.

We still have over four hours to go before we reach Paris and none of us want to get into a game of _Risk_ because of how long it takes for any of us to win at that game. So, after we finish playing Trouble, we just watch TV. More or less, Tucker is flipping through the channels trying to find something good on though Sam and Valerie can't seem to agree.

"What about this?" Tucker asks stopping on an MTV station where a Dumpty Humpty concert was playing live.

"I'm fine with that," I say.

Valerie and Sam nod in agreement.

Vlad and my parents look up before my parents shake their heads. "I'll never understand why they like that band," Mom says.

It's about twenty minutes into the televised concert that the bad feeling comes back. I don't even remember when I stopped thinking about it but it comes back full force.

It's then that the pilot's voice comes over the intercom. "Folks, this is the pilot speaking," he says. "We are nearing a storm so I advise that everyone strap themselves in. We are going to try to go around it. Please remain in your seats until further notice."

I look at my friends and sister but we shrug, get to our feet and walk over to the seats. I end up sitting near the window with Tucker sitting beside me. Sam and Jazz are in front of us, Valerie is sitting with Vlad and my parents are sitting together. We strap ourselves in and I turn my gaze to the window.

The jet shudders violently as if hit by a powerful gust of wind. A jagged bolt of lightning illuminates the interior of the cabin too close to the jet for comfort and the jet rocks again. I look out the window and see dark storm clouds swirling next to us like a vortex and another jagged lightning bolt illuminates the sky.

I shiver and my eyes widen when a cool, blue mist escapes my lips. _Ghost sense? Here?_ I think.

"A ghost here?" Tucker, seeing my ghost sense, says looking surprised.

I shake my head. I don't know why my ghost sense just went off.

"This is your pilot speaking," the pilot's voice, taut with worry, says. "The storm is much larger than I thought. I am going to try to avoid it but…" Whatever else he is about to say is lost when the jet is assaulted by another powerful gust of wind and another lightning strikes dangerously close to it.

The jet shudders again thrusting forward and sending all of us forward in our seats only to fall back when it rocks backward. It does this several times before another bolt of lightning strikes; this time, it hits something because I hear an explosion behind us.

"We've lost an engine," the pilot's voice, shrill with fear, sounds over the intercom. "Everyone, abandon the jet. We are going down."

"Come on," Vlad says undoing the straps and getting to his feet before he dashes to the back of the jet. He opens a closet before pulling out parachutes; I count them and see that we are two short.

"We're two short, Vlad," I say.

"Some of us are going to have to go with someone else then," Vlad says handing one to my mom, naturally, but she gives it to my dad.

"I'll go with Jack," she says as my dad straps the parachute on.

Vlad, lips thinning, nods and hands the parachutes to the rest of the group. Eventually, everyone but Vlad and I have one.

"I am going to try to get us to eight-thousand feet. Good thing the storm's dying down," the pilot says.

I look out the window and see that the pilot is right; the storm that crippled the jet is dying down.

Mom looks worried. "What about you two?" she says. Of course, she doesn't know that Vlad and I don't need them but then both of us don't want our secrets to come out.

"Here, take mine," Valerie says taking off her parachute. "I'll go with Tucker."

I take the parachute before looking at Vlad while Valerie walks over to Tucker.

Vlad walks to the emergency door as the pilot's voice says, "I am down to eight-thousand feet. I don't think we should risk jumping at a height any lower."

Vlad, holding on to the doorway, opens the door and I grab the nearest thing that is bolted down as a rush of wind surges through the cabin nearly knocking us down.

Jack, with Maddie's arms around his neck and his arm around her waist, hurries to the doorway and jumps. Tucker, with Valerie in his arms, quickly goes next. Jazz, looking briefly at me, follows Tucker and Valerie. Sam pauses in the doorway before looking at me.

"Go, Sam," I say.

"But…"

"I'll be fine, go!"

Sam hesitates again before nodding and jumping out of the jet.

I look at Vlad who looks at me. It is the hero complex in me that refuses to leave Vlad here even if he and I are enemies. "We're going to have to go together," I say.

Vlad nods. "I'll be able to handle your weight more than you will be able to handle mine, especially in our human forms," he says.

I sigh but I know that he's right. I also know that he won't leave me by myself; at least I think he won't. Okay, I'm hoping that he won't. There really is no telling with Vlad. Either way, I make the decision to trust him, at least for this, and hand him the parachute.

He straps it on before grabbing my arm and hurrying to the doorway. "Hold on," he orders.

I grit my teeth but nod and wrap my arms around his neck holding him as if my life depends on it, which it kind of does. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he leaps out of the jet and I gasp as we free-fall. "We're gonna land in the ocean, aren't we?" I yell over the roar of the wind not realizing I am tightening my grip on my archnemesis's neck.

"Likely, now will you please stop trying to choke me?" Vlad snaps.

I blush and loosen my grip a little.

I can't see what happens to the jet because the wind is stinging my eyes but I fervently hope the pilot got out. We are still falling when, suddenly, a growl of thunder sounds over the roar of the wind. At the same time, my ghost sense goes off again. I look up and my eyes wide. "Vlad, that storm's back," I say.

Vlad looks as well. "Oh butter biscuits," he says tightening his grip on me as the winds now buffet us on all sides. We are reaching the point in which Vlad will need to deploy the chute but the wind is tossing us around in midair making me wonder if he can deploy it. I tighten my grip again as I think about whether I should just go ghost or not.

I almost make a decision when a bolt of lightning strikes close to where we are. Vlad spins away from the bolt and I yelp clinging on fear flooding through me. The winds grow stronger tossing us around as if we are ragdolls and I grit my teeth struggling to keep my grip on Vlad.

"Don't let go," Vlad shouts.

"No kidding," I shout back.

Wind howls around us and rain begins falling in a downpour as we continue our free-fall. At least there isn't more lightning.

A strike of lightning strikes across the air above us almost as soon as I finish that thought. I hate Murphy's Law, I really do.

We are still free falling when Vlad suddenly activates the chute. We decelerate rapidly as the canopy of the parachute inflates though the wind is still strong enough to send us spinning though we stop almost as soon as we started. I can now see the ocean rising up below us, an expanse of undulating water that we are still hundreds of feet from.

Vlad keeps one arm around my waist while the other holds the cords on the parachute as we continue our descent. The storm is still raging around us; another strike of lightning is followed by a bark of thunder and I can barely make out anything with the curtain of rain in front of me.

"It looks like we are still going to hit the water hard," Vlad says. "But that's to be expected. If we use our ghost energies to slow our descent even more while still in human form, we should be all right especially if we use our ghost energies at the same time."

"And how do I do that?" I say.

"You would know if you had taken me up on my offer."

I scowl. "Now's not really the time for that, fruitloop," I snap.

"If you don't know how to do that, Daniel, then the only thing I suggest is to transform and let your ghost half take the most of the impact. Unfortunately, I do not know how much the impact will hurt you no matter what you do," Vlad says not responding to my words.  
"So we're likely to get hurt no matter what we do," I say matter-of-factly all the while wondering why I can't just fly away if I transform. The rain, the howling winds and the strikes of lightning answer that question for me. I'm not going to risk flying in the middle of this storm; I'm not stupid.

Vlad nods. "The storm doesn't make things any better," he says.

"No kidding." I yelp as another strong gust slams into us almost making me lose my hold on Vlad and I tighten my grip fearfully.

Vlad sighs. "I'm not going to drop you, little badger," he says.

I decide against responding to that.

We are even closer to the water and I decide that transforming is probably the best thing to do. However, much to my horror, I can't will my ghost half forward. "Vlad, I can't go ghost," I shout.

"What?" Vlad looks sharply at me before he concentrates and scowls. "Sugar cookies, something is preventing us from transforming but I don't know what."

"The storm?" I suggest.

"Possibly but I don't know," Vlad says. "Brace yourself, Daniel." He tightens his grip on me and I look over my shoulder to find that we are closing in on the ocean rapidly.

You know how sometimes it feels like things are taking forever when, in reality, it is only taking a few minutes? That's what this situation feels like; it feels like Clockwork cheated and slowed down time when, in reality, only a few minutes had gone by since Vlad and I left the plane.

I brace myself for impact. I don't recall much about the actual impact; I only recall the murky depths of the ocean and then blackness.

* * *

**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: wow, the last part was the hardest part to write though, yay! My first cliffhanger of the story!**

**Darth: I think it's fine and boo! I hate cliffhangers!**

**Blaze: you always think it's fine**

**Darth: good point**

**Blaze: so yeah, that was chapter 2, I hope that you liked it and sorry if the last part doesn't seem realistic. I've never gone skydiving and I've never jumped out of a plane before so I'm basing a lot of this on what I see on TV**

**Darth: yeah**

**Blaze: Oh and I fixed the inconsistencies with tense in this chapter. Please review and I will post chapter 3 as soon as I possibly can**


	3. Chapter Three

**Kai'ika95: **I love creating cliffhangers so expect more. Thank you for your review.

**KodiakWolfe13: **um, unsure of what's awkward (except for the skydiving scene 'cause that was a little awkward). Thanks for the review.

**MuddSkipping: **Thank you for your review.

**Phantomsbatgirl91939: **Thank you and I love Danny/Vlad father/son types of stories too and yes, there are going to be plenty of twists to come. Sorry for the late update. I usually update regularly unless I get writer's block or I lose internet connection. This time, it was the latter.

**Jaddis: **Sorry about the slow update, I lost Internet connection and couldn't update until now but, as I managed to finish a few chapters while I was waiting to get Internet back, I should be updating regularly for a while.

**wastedsky: **Thank you but I won't answer any of your questions. I don't want to spoil anything. Thank you for your review.

**Linzerj: **I do love creating cliffhangers. Expect more. Thank you for your review.

**Here is chapter 3 and I hope that you like it. Oh and I've changed the time of the flight at the beginning from 20 hours to 9 hours since, apparently, I got the amount of time from Illinois, which is where I place Amity Park, to Paris wrong. I gotta really confirm what I read **_**before **_**I type it. Also, I have edited the last two chapters and made some changes so it might be a good idea to reread the chapters because some of those changes, even though they are very little, are important for what happens later on in the story. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

I regain consciousness to find myself gazing into a pair of violet eyes framed by black hair. I blink a few times and Sam leans back relief flooding her features. "Guys, he's awake," she says looking away briefly.

"What happened?" I ask; my throat feels scratchy and my voice sounds hoarse to my ears. I find that I am lying on sand with a dark sky above my head though I don't know whether it's dark because of the storm or because it's late.

"You and Vlad hit the water pretty hard," Sam says. "Vlad managed to stay conscious though he was injured too."

"How bad am I injured?" I ask.

"Dislocated bone in the leg," Sam says. "But your mom managed to set it and it's healing but that's probably cause of…" She breaks off though I know what she is about to say. My ghost powers gave me the ability to heal faster than is normal. The only thing is; I don't know if that will happen since I remember that I wasn't able to transform before I hit the water.

"Oh Danny, I'm so glad you're all right," Mom says kneeling beside me and gathering me into her arms once I sit up.

"Was anyone hurt?" I ask hugging her back.

"All of us landed pretty hard," Mom says, "but none of the injuries are life-threatening. Can you stand?"

I try to but I end up needing my mom and Sam to help me up. Balancing on one leg, I lean against my mom. She guides me over to join the others. Sam limps after us. I glance at her and notice that she is favoring her left leg but, since she is walking, I figure it isn't broken.

"Where are we?" I ask as we join the rest of the group who are a few feet away.

"We don't know," Mom says as I, gritting my teeth in pain, sit down.

"Yeah, I can't even get a GPS reading on where we are," Tucker says. I raise an eyebrow when I notice the PDA.

"How did that survive?" I ask.

"It's my waterproof one. Had to get one since a certain someone dropped one of my mine in the lake," Tucker says glaring at me and I blush.

"It was an accident," I say.

"Yeah but I still had three payments on that one."

"We need to figure out what to do," Mom says before I can reply. "We don't know where we are, we are all injured though Danny is the worst and we don't have any supplies other than what we had on us when we jumped out of Vlad's jet. And it looks like it's going to rain again. Valerie, Jack and I can look around since we're the least injured of all of us and Jack and I have a few ghost weapons with us."

"Do you think they're ghosts here?" Valerie asks.

Mom shrugs. "It's possible but our weapons can work on living creatures just as they can work on ghosts though they work better on ghosts," she says.

"We should move at least to the edge of the forest just in case it starts raining," Vlad suggests.

Mom nods. "Jack, Valerie, come with me. And one of you is going to have to help Danny," she says.

"I've got it," Sam says.

"Don't be ridiculous," Vlad says curling his upper lip. "You are obviously injured, Samantha."

Sam glares at Vlad as he pushes himself to his feet, favoring his leg just as Sam is, and limps over to join me before he holds out a hand. I glare at him but accept the hand knowing his ghost strength will allow him to support me even if he is injured. Tucker and Jazz push themselves to their feet and joins us before the five of us make our way to the edge of the forest while my parents and Valerie, each with a small ghost weapon in their hands, makes their way into the forest beyond.

* * *

My parents and Valerie return about twenty minutes later at least based on the clock on Tucker's PDA. We are in the clearing closest to the edge of the forest and it is raining though, thankfully, the canopy is thick enough to prevent most of the rain from getting through. I'm sitting in the roots of a tree back pressed against it, eyes half-closed with my leg throbbing, when they enter the clearing.

"We didn't go very far," Mom says. "But we didn't encounter any animals though that could be because of the storm."

"So do we stay here for now?" Jazz asks. She is sitting beside Sam seeing to her leg. I had learned earlier that the leg wasn't broken much to my relief though Jazz doesn't know how badly it's injured.

"Might be best," Mom says walking over to join me. "How's the leg?"

"Hurts," I say before wincing when my mom moves it. "Ow!"

"We'll need to figure out a way to splint it so it doesn't get worse and then get you something to help you walk just in case we need to leave this clearing," Mom says as she lets go of my leg.

"So we're just gonna have to stay here? What about food or water?" Tucker says.

Mom presses her lips together. "We can eat berries," she says. "I know what kinds of berries are safe to eat and which aren't. Plants too."

Tucker groans while Sam and I snicker.

The clearing is illuminated by a strike of lightning that is followed by a clap of thunder. I shiver as the chilly wind caresses my skin.

Mom puts her arms around me. "I think this clearing is dry enough to build a fire," she says standing up. "We should get some firewood."

"I can help," Valerie says.

"All right."

It doesn't take them long to find some firewood though actually building the fire isn't as easy as they thought it would be. For some reason, the wood they are using is refusing to light. I can see my mom is getting frustrated. "If I had an ectogun, this might not be a problem," she says rubbing the sticks together in an effort to create a spark, since that was all we need.

Vlad looks at the pile of wood before joining Mom, not seeming to acknowledge that he is in pain though I see that he is still favoring his leg; it is likely healing as fast as my leg is though if our powers are working. "Let me try," he says.

"Maybe you'll have better luck," she says handing the sticks to Vlad who kneels down. He looks around and, once he's sure Valerie and my parents aren't looking, he lights the pile of dry leaves and branches on fire with his powers. Tossing the sticks into the blaze, he limps over to join me.

I stare. "So your powers are working," I say softly.

"As should yours, little badger, though I would check to be sure," Vlad says sitting against a tree near me.

I wonder how to check on my powers and decide to do so when everyone is asleep. I'm still wondering why Vlad and I weren't able to transform while we were falling but I decide not to ask, at least not now.

"Good job, V-man," Dad says when he notices the fire.

"What time is it?" Mom asks.

Tucker looks at his PDA. "8:05 p.m.," he says.

She nods. "I think it would be best if we got some sleep," she says.

"I also think it might be a good idea to take turns keeping watch just in case," Vlad says. "I can take first watch, Maddie."

Mom looks at Vlad. "Are you sure? You were injured, Vlad."

"Not as bad as Daniel and you, Valerie and Jack have already done so much. It's the least I can do," Vlad says.

"All right," she says. "Good thing I brought this with me." She reaches into her belt and I see her pull out the capsules she used during our trip in the Rocky Mountains. She tosses them to the ground and sleeping bags pop out of them. Dad also has some and, before long, all of us are in sleeping bags.

I shift around in my bag trying to get comfortable without agitating my leg before I rest my head on my arms though I don't go to sleep.

Once I am sure everyone is asleep, I ease my way out of my sleeping bag and, using the tree I am beside, I got to my feet before moving around so that I'm in the forest. I, then, will my ghost form forward and I'm relieved when the brilliant rings of blue-white light appear around my waist and separate transforming me into my ghost half.

Since injuries to my ghost half transfer over to my human half, I'm not surprised that injuries to my human half transfer to my ghost half. My leg is still hurting but, since I can float, I'm not putting pressure on my leg and not making it worse.

"You should be asleep."

I turn in midair to find Vlad, as Plasmius, floating behind me. "You did say I should check to make sure I have my powers," I say.

"Yes but I wasn't expecting you to try right away," Vlad says.

I shrug floating around the trees at the edge of the clearing. "Looks like I can still fly," I say more to myself before I make my arm intangible and sink it into the tree. I then go invisible, test out my ectoblast and my ectoshield and I'm relieved to see that everything is working. The only thing that I haven't checked is my Ghostly Wail but I don't want to use that since it's very destructive.

"It looks like we have all our powers," Vlad says. "Why we couldn't transform while we were falling, I don't know."

I don't know either. "What now, Vlad?" I ask. "We don't know where we are, we don't have any food or supplies, most of us are injured and we don't know anything about this place."

"If we want to stand a chance at getting out of here, Daniel, I believe we should put aside our differences and work together," Vlad says.

I know Vlad's right but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I sigh. "Another truce then?" I ask.

"Yes," Vlad says. "Now, I suggest you go back to sleep."

"I'm not tired," I say.

Vlad doesn't look like he believes me but he shrugs. "I can't tell you what to do, Daniel, but fine. If you aren't tired then you can help me scout out the area."

"I thought mom, dad and Valerie already did that."

"I mean go further, figure out if we are on the mainland or on an island somewhere and see exactly what's ahead of us. We also need to find some water."

Vlad's right, again. Why do I find this so irritating? "All right," I say. "And if we find something?"

"Since you can't duplicate yet, we'll meet back here," Vlad says.

I scowl at the reminder of the one ability Vlad has that I haven't mastered yet. "What if mom or someone wakes up while I'm away?" I ask.

"This is one reason why I suggested you just go back to sleep and let me handle this," Vlad says.

"I hate not being able to help, Plasmius," I say. I know that my leg will likely not be hurting me as much as it is today by tomorrow since I do heal fast and I heal even faster when I'm in ghost form. But I know that I will still need to pretend I'm hurt more than I am in order to keep my secret. My only chance to help is while everyone is asleep.

"Yes, I know all about your need to constantly help even if others hate you for it."

Completely ignoring that and figuring Vlad isn't going to help with my dilemma, I float back into the clearing. It takes a bit but I manage to make my sleeping bag look like I'm in it. Hoping it will fool my parents, I float back to join Vlad who looks amused.

"That might fool your idiot father but I doubt it will fool your mother," he says.

"My dad's not an idiot," I snap.

Vlad doesn't respond to that. "You take the beach, Daniel," he says and floats away before I can protest.

* * *

The ocean shines in the light of the moon that is peeking through the clouds above. The rain had stopped a while ago though the wind is still chilly. Thankfully, I never notice the cold when in my ghost form. I did notice one thing right away when I went to the beach though; there is a ghost shield. If I hadn't seen the shimmer and the faint white light it gives off and I didn't have night vision because of my ghost powers, I might have flown right into it. As it is, when I tried to phase through it, it didn't work, which is what told me it's a ghost shield

I'm flying along it trying to see where it stops only to find that it doesn't stop when the beach ends, it keeps going around the forests on either side of the beach. Deciding to see how far it stretches from a higher vantage point, I fly upward a little and scan the area. I notice that the forests eventually give way to mountains in the distance. I also notice the shield domes over the land and is higher than the mountains. Flying higher until my head is nearly brushing the shield, I notice that the shield is also on the other side of the mountains. I really do love being able to see in the dark.

Flying downward, I head back to the campsite floating intangibly through the trees until I reach it. I land and look into the clearing relieved to see that everyone is still asleep.

"What did you find?"

I leap before whirling around. Vlad is floating behind me looking amused. I glare at him before saying, "There's a ghost shield around this place and I saw that it ended beyond the mountains."

Vlad nods. "We're also on an island," he says. "The mountains mark one end of the island and this beach marks another. The shield encircles all of it."

"I just don't get why there's a ghost shield here," I say.

"It is odd. We can pass through it in our human forms though but the only thing beyond the shield is the ocean so it's trapping us here. I very much doubt this shield is natural though while it is possible, which begs the question you just asked. Why is it here?"

I shrug. "You tell me," I say.

"If I knew I might," Vlad says.

"Might?"

"I might just keep it to myself."

"Fruitloop," I mutter.

"I am not a fruitloop, little badger," Vlad says though I can't tell whether he's amused or irritated. It's so hard to tell when it comes to Vlad.

I scowl. "So what now?" I ask.

"Now, I suggest you get some sleep, Daniel," Vlad says. "You need your rest or your leg will take longer to heal despite the fact that you heal faster than humans."

I float downward knowing Vlad is right, again. Why must Vlad always be right?

In the shadows of the forest, I transform back and, using the trees, I make my way back to my sleeping bag. Vlad, also transforming back, follows me before he walks over to what is left of the fire. I climb back into my sleeping bag, being careful to not move my leg more than necessary.

Resting my head on my arms, I close my eyes.

* * *

I officially hate sleeping.

Okay, that's a lie. I love sleeping. I officially hate having my sleep be continuously disturbed by nightmares. I hate that they won't go away no matter how much I try to forget about what happened.

Needless to say, I don't get any sleep that night.

I sit up in my sleeping bag rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Sunlight streams through the trees and I'm relieved see that the storm is over. I scan the group and I notice that I'm the only one awake with the exception of Vlad who looks like he didn't get any sleep last night either.

"Good morning, little badger," he says lifting his head from where he is sitting by the fire getting it started again. "I'm surprised you woke up before everyone else."

I yawn but don't respond.

Vlad looks at me concerned but, before he can say anything, my mom wakes up. Yawning, she gets to her feet. "Good morning Vlad, Danny," she says before frowning at me and adding, "You're up early, Danny. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," I say.

"How's the leg?"

My leg still throbbing but it's not as bad but I know saying that would be suspicious since I'm not supposed to heal that fast. So, instead, I say, "It still hurts."

Mom nods. "I'll find a way to make a walking stick for you. It'll help you if we have to move."

"Do you think we'll have to move?" Vlad asks.

"I don't know. Jack, time to wake up," Mom says nudging Dad who groans and opens his eyes.

"Morning already?" he asks.

Mom nods. "We need to go find something to eat for everyone since the last time we ate was yesterday," she says before she walks over to wake up Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Valerie. She then looks at Sam's leg, lips pressed together and eyes narrowed.

"We're going to need to splint it to prevent it from getting worse. We should splint Danny's leg too but I'll see to that later," she says to Sam. "I should be able to make a makeshift splint but I'll need wood."

"I gathered some last night," Vlad says pointing to the pile of wood lying a few feet from the campfire.

"Thank you, Vlad," Mom says before she stands and walks over to the pile. While she sorts through the wood, Jack, Jazz, Valerie and Tucker get to their feet and stretch.

"What time is it?" I ask.

Tucker, yawning, pulls out his PDA. "7:03," he says.

"We'll have to find a source of water as well as food," Mom says carrying two pieces of wood back to Sam. She kneels down and begins using the wood to splint Sam's leg.

"I went scouting for a bit earlier," Vlad says. "There's a freshwater stream nearby."

"How far away?"

"We might have to move our camp to be closer to it," Vlad admits. "It's about half a mile or so away. I'm not entirely sure."

Mom doesn't look like she likes the idea of moving but she nods. "We can survive longer if we're closer to a source of water. We don't know for how long we're going to be here after all."

"And we still don't know where we are," I say before looking at Tucker who shakes his head.

"It's good for telling the time but nothing else," he says gesturing to the PDA.

"Since we were still about four hours from Paris, I'm assuming we're somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic," Mom says.

"There are quite a few islands in the Atlantic that we might have been near when the jet went down," Jazz says, "but not many directly between the states and France. There's Bermuda but we likely past it already. We might be on an undiscovered island."

"We haven't seen any signs of civilization so it's possible," says Mom.

"More than possible, it's likely," says Jazz. "I'm wondering how far from the mainland we are."

Mom shakes her head as she stands and stretches. "We don't have time for that. I think we should move to the stream Vlad found so, at least, we'll have access to water. I can splint Danny's leg there if it needs it."

"Should we move that far from the beach? What if someone comes?" Tucker asks.

"We can always come back to see if anyone arrives every now and then," Mom points out. "I'll help Sam."

"I'll go ahead and make sure there're no ghosts ahead," Dad says.

"Take your sleeping bag with you since we won't be able to put them back into the capsule until we get to our lab," Mom says.

Jack nods before rolling his sleeping bag up; there was a strap on the side that I think is a good improvement to the ones Mom and I had. I roll up my own sleeping bag looking to see that everyone else was doing the same thing. Jack slings the rolled up sleeping bag onto his back and starts toward the forest.

"Take this with you, Jack." She holds out the Jack-O-Nine-Tails. I wonder what other weapons she has in her belt.

Jack nods and takes the weapon before walks into the forest while we put our sleeping bags on our backs.

"I should check your leg and see if it needs to be splinted," Mom says looking at me.

"I can check it," Vlad says calmly walking to join me before he kneels down, pretending to check the leg that is healing too fast to be normal. He looks at Mom before he says, "I don't think he needs to splint it but he could use a walking stick to avoid putting pressure on it and injuring it again."

Mom nods. "Let me see what I can do," she says before she walks over to the wood and begins looking through it. It takes her about ten minutes using the wood Vlad gathered earlier but she manages to make two crude walking sticks. She hands one to Vlad before walking over to join Sam.

Vlad holds out a hand and I take it wincing before I take the walking stick. Vlad stays at my side though; I decide not to comment on that.

"Valerie, can you and Jazz bring up the rear?" Mom asks helping Sam to her feet and giving her the other of the makeshift walking sticks.

Valerie nods and she and Jazz bring up the rear as we begin walking deeper into the forest.

* * *

**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: well, that was chapter 3.**

**Darth: I liked it though not much happened**

**Blaze: this was a somewhat filler chapter to get some important information across**

**Darth: oh, like the shield?**

**Blaze: yup, that's important**

**Darth: cool**

**Blaze: but, like I said, it's mostly a filler chapter. The next one will likely have action in it (er, I think anyway. I'm already on chapter nine of this story so I'm going to have to reread chapter 4 to see if it does or not.)**

**Darth: awesome**

**Blaze: so I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Danny: can I kick Vlad?**

**Blaze: (sigh) why?**

**Danny: I dunno. I just wanna kick Vlad**

**Blaze: (sighs) go ahead**

**Danny: (grins and kicks Vlad into Far Frozen)**

**Blaze: if you freeze him, Frostbite, I'm not giving you that ice cream machine you wanted**

**Frostbite: oh fine**

**Vlad: (sighs with relief)**

**Dan: (sucks Vlad into thermos)**

**Vlad: ah come on!**

**Danny: **_**how do you keep getting out?!**_** (Sucks Dan back into thermos)**

**Blaze: (chuckles) please review and I will post chapter 4 as soon as I can.**


	4. Chapter Four

**KodiakWolfe13: **Thank you for your review. And I'm glad you liked my author's note.

**History101: **Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you liked this story.

**Spidey2: **Thank you for your review.

**Kasena: **While it's a good theory, I'll tell you it's not true…well, not exactly. I ain't saying more than that. And yes, there will be fluff in the future. Thank you for your review.

**Jaddis: **Yeah, a little break and yes, more nightmares are to come. Thank you for your review.

**The Talent: **Thank you and I'm glad you liked the last chapter.

**A note: many episodes after **_**The Ultimate Enemy**_** will not occur as characters and items introduced in some episodes after TUE are introduced in this story.****Here is chapter 4, I hope that you enjoy it and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

We reach the stream about an hour later. It doesn't usually take that long to walk half a mile but we were going slowly for Sam's benefit and for mine since it's not easy walking through a forest with a walking stick.

Anyway, we reach the stream. Mom immediately guides Sam over to it before she kneels down, cups her hands together and takes a drink. "It doesn't taste bad," she says before helping Sam, who puts her walking stick aside, to sit down and she, cupping her hands, takes a few drinks.

Vlad guides me to the stream and I sit down, putting the walking stick down, before taking a drink from it; it is refreshing and cold. I look over at Sam as the rest of the group drinks from the stream. "How's the leg?" I ask.

"It still hurts," Sam says. "You?"

"Better," I say. Sam, Tucker and I developed a code when we first learned about my faster than normal healing rate. If I'm still in a lot of pain then I'll be honest and say so but if the pain is better than is normal for the amount of days that has passed then I'll say I feel better. It is our way of preventing people from discovering how fast I heal.

Sam nods. "That's good. Glad no one was badly injured."

"How's your leg, Vlad?" Mom asks looking at Vlad as Jazz moves to Sam's side.

"It's fine, Maddie," Vlad says splashing some water on his face. He doesn't look like the billionaire he is right now; his suit is torn in multiple places and covered in dirt and grime though it is dry. But then all of us are wearing torn, dirty clothing since we lost quite a bit when the jet crashed.

Dad appears in the trees across the stream. "No ghosts in front of us or other animals for that matter," he says.

"That's odd," Mom says frowning. "The storms over so I figured any animals would have come out by now."

"Maybe there aren't any near here," Tucker suggests.

"No, that's not it," Sam says before she points and we all look to find a deer drinking from the stream a few yards to the left of where we are sitting.

Mom stands up. "I think we should look for food now," she says. Sam leans over and says something to Jazz who nods. "Valerie, Jack and I will go."

"I can go too," Jazz says. "I haven't done much to help and I'm not that injured."

"All right, Jazz, you'll come with us."

Jazz gets to her feet before following her parents and Valerie who heads to the left toward were the deer was though it isn't there anymore. Once they are out of sight, which doesn't take long because the forest on either side of the stream is thick and overgrown, I grab my walking stick and stand up before stretching wincing a little at a spark of pain from my leg. "I think we need to scout the area again, Vlad," I say.

Vlad nods

"I snagged these from your mom," Sam says before she holds out two Fenton phones. "I figured you'd want to make sure there was nothing dangerous nearby, Danny, so I gave a pair to Jazz and she'll let us know if your parents are coming back."

"Won't your mom be missing them?" Tucker asks.

Sam shakes her head. "She has six of 'em. If she notices any are missing, I'll just say she dropped 'em," she says before she lifts one of the phones to her ear before saying, "Yeah, I can hear you. It works fine. I'm giving it to him now. How's it going?"

A moment of silence before Sam says, "Okay, I'm giving one to Danny now." She holds out the Fenton phone and I take it before putting it in my ear.

"Jazz, you there?" I say.

"_I'm here,_" Jazz says.

"All right. Give the other pair to Vlad," I say to Sam. "He's going scouting too and he might as well have one in case we get separated. Mom and Dad might suspect something if we both disappear."

"Good point," Sam says before saying something into the Fenton phone and tossing it at Vlad.

Vlad narrows his eyes at me but says nothing as he catches the phone.

"We'll be back soon," I say to my friends and limp into the forest with Vlad just behind me. We get to a few yards from where Sam and Tucker are before Vlad grabs my shoulder.

"I want to ask you something, Daniel," he says.

I turn to face him. "What would that be?" I ask.

"Do your friends and sister know about me?" Vlad asks.

"Sam and Tucker do," I say turning off the Fenton phone. "I don't keep secrets from them, Vlad. If you're afraid they'll tell then don't be. They won't. They know if they tell then you'll reveal my secret."

"I can still do that since we agreed not to tell anyone," Vlad says coolly.

"No, we agreed not to tell my parents," I say transforming and putting the walking stick on the ground so that I won't forget about it later.

Vlad grits his teeth but that is what we agreed on and he knows it. He turns on the Fenton phone before putting it into his ear while I turn mine back on.

"You go that way, Daniel," Vlad says as he transforms pointing in front of us.

_Don't tell me what to do,_ was on the tip of my tongue, something I wanted to say to him the day before, but Vlad is already flying away. I scowl after him but decide not to protest and just fly in the direction he indicated.

Flying intangibly through the trees, I scan the area for any signs of life. I see a few rabbits and squirrels and other small animals but nothing threatening. "Can't see anything over here," I say into the phone knowing both Jazz and Vlad can hear me. I spin in midair when I hear a growl before I say, "Scratch that, I just heard a growl. I'm going to check it out."

"_Is that a good idea, Danny?_" Jazz asks softly most likely to avoid being heard by our parents.

"_I agree with Jasmine. It doesn't sound like a good idea,_" Vlad says.

"I'll be fine," I say before I fly in the direction of the growl.

"_Don't let it know you're there at least,_" Vlad says.

"No duh," I say rolling my eyes though I know he can't see me. I go invisible and continue to weave around the trees before I land on a branch in a clearing where two wolves are fighting over the mutilated corpse of a deer. I grimace glad Sam isn't here to see this.

I turn and fly away. "It was a pair of wolves," I say. "They aren't near where we are though."

"_We should still keep an eye out for them just in case,_" Jazz says.

I fly onward before I stiffen when my ghost sense goes off. I turn but I can't see anything. I frown wondering where the ghost is.

"_Danny, Mr. Masters, mom and dad are heading back,_" Jazz says.

I decide not to think about whoever triggered my ghost sense for the moment. I fly back the way I came and head back to the campsite. Landing in the clearing where I'd transformed earlier, I transform back, pick up the walking stick and limp back to my spot near the stream. Vlad returns a few minutes after me before sitting down. We then give our Fenton phones back to Sam.

"Anything?" Sam asks.

"Two wolves were fighting over their food," I say. I look in the direction my parents went and, when I don't see them, I add, "and my ghost sense went off."

"Did a ghost attack you?" Tucker asks.

I shake my head. "No one attacked me," I say. "I sensed it but I didn't see it. My guess it was invisible but why it didn't attack me, I don't know."

"My guess would be it didn't see you as a threat to its territory," Vlad says.

We can't discuss whatever might have triggered my ghost sense more because my parents, Valerie and Jazz are entering the clearing carrying plants and berries in their shirts. I spot an interesting look blood-red flower in the mix of plants; I don't know why but something is telling me to avoid that plant.

"Ah, I haven't had one of these in a long time," Dad says picking up one of the blood-red flowers before he bit into it. "Not since Maddie and I got married."

He picks up another one and tosses it at me. "Go on, taste it," he says.

I catch it before turning it around in my hands; my instincts are telling me to throw it away but it doesn't look dangerous. However, before I can take a bite, I feel Vlad's hand enclose over my wrist.

"I wouldn't do that," he says quietly. I look at him and I'm surprised to see how pale he is; he is eyeing the flower as if it was a venomous snake.

"Why not?" I ask.

Dropping his voice to a whisper, Vlad says, "That's a blood blossom, Daniel. It has anti-supernatural properties that make it very painful for ghosts on contact like a primitive Specter Deflector. I don't think it'd be a good idea to test what it would do to you if you ate it."

I pale and look again at the flower turning it over in my hands wondering how a plant that looks harmless enough can be dangerous. I look up; my dad's still eating his blood blossom and my mom, Sam, Valerie and Jazz are picking what to eat from the piles of fruits and plants. Tucker is muttering under his breath though I'm too far away to hear what he's saying.

"Aren't you going to eat it, Danny-boy?" Dad asks as he finishes his.

"Uh, I'm not that hungry," I say. Vlad is right—again! Seriously, why must he always be right?—it probably isn't a good idea to see what a blood blossom will do to a half-ghost in human form if it is eaten.

"You need to keep up your strength, Danny," Mom says.

"I'll just eat some of the berries," I say deciding those are likely safer than the blood blossom. I put the blossom on the ground before I pick up some berries in each of the piles.

"All right. Vlad, if you want it—" Mom begins.

"I am all right with the berries as well," Vlad says calmly.

"All right." Mom walks over and picks up the blood blossom before she walks back to join Dad and sits down beside him. "You should wash the berries in the stream though just to be safe."

I nod before lowering my handful of berries into the stream. A few of them are washed away in the gentle current but I manage to keep hold on most of them. Pulling them out of the water, I pop a dripping blue one into my mouth and chew.

Tucker's the only one who is very reluctant about eating the berries and plants but then he's a carnivore who hasn't eaten vegetables since before we met. Eventually, though, his hunger gets the best of him and he reluctantly grabs a handful of berries and some of the plants.

"You're acting as if we're asking you to eat dirty socks," Sam says shaking her head in exasperation.

"I'm a carnivore, carnivores don't eat this stuff," Tucker complains.

"It's healthier for you," Sam says.

"Meat's healthy for you too."

"It's fat."

I groan as Sam and Tucker get into another one of their infamous carnivore-vegetarian arguments.

Valerie is watching them before she walks over to sit beside me. "Does this happen often?" she asks.

"More than you think," I say eating another berry before I spit it out; it's a bit too tart for my tastes.

Valerie chuckles and I blush.

"So, are we going to stay here?" Jazz asks.

"We had to go a ways to find these," Mom says. "I think we should move in the direction we found these but stay close to the stream but we should leave tomorrow so Sam and Danny can rest some more. Vlad's been favoring his leg too so I think he could use some rest as well."

"We can put what blood blossoms we don't eat around the campsite to keep ghosts away," Dad says.

"How does that work?" Tucker asks confused.

"Blood blossoms have anti-supernatural properties that can render a ghost powerless and cause them intense pain once they come into contact with them. While studying their effects on a small ghost we managed to catch, we also discovered that they create a natural anti-ghost shield that stops them from escaping," Mom explains. "But they're also extremely rare. I think this place might be one of the few places blood blossoms can be found as we've never been able to find many before we came here."

"Oh." He, Jazz and Sam look concerned but a little relieved too.

"Can they be harvested and used in a weapon?" Valerie asks eagerly.

I pale a little but look down so that no one can see.

"We've never had enough to test that but I think it would," Mom says.

"Hey, when we get outta here, we can come back and gather some. Then we can make a weapon using them and use it against the ghost punk Phantom," Dad says eagerly.

Valerie smiles clearly liking the idea.

Me? I'm wishing we never heard of blood blossoms. Great, another thing to add to my "must avoid" list. At least it doesn't affect me when I'm in human form.

After I finish the berries, I wash it down with the water from the stream.

"How's the leg now, Danny? Does it still hurt?" Mom asks.

Truth be told, it does. It is throbbing but I know it's supposed to hurt more than it is. All I say is, "Yeah, it does."

"Maybe we should splint it," Mom says.

"I don't think it needs that, mom," I say.

My mom still looks worried but she nods. "If it gets worse, let me know," she says.

"All right, mom."

* * *

That night, I wake up to a rock hitting my head.

Not the most ideal way to wake up.

My first thought is _ouch. _My second is _who the heck just tossed a rock at my head?_

Lifting my head, I look up to find a half-moon floating above my head with stars glittering around it. I can make out portions of a few constellations but I decide I had more pressing matters. Sitting up, I try to get to my feet without putting pressure on my leg, grabbing the walking stick as I do so, before I look toward where the rock likely came from.

It's beyond the perimeter of blood blossoms my dad had placed around the campsite and, through the reddish vapor-like shield the blossoms created, I can see someone. I frown but I figure this person was the one who tossed that rock at me; seeing as the person had to throw a rock at me, I'm guessing it's a ghost. The fact that my ghost sense goes off the closer I get to the barrier confirms that fact too.

That's why I stay on my side of the vapor. "Who are you?" I ask softly.

"I mean you no harm, young halfa," the ghost, female by the sound of her voice, says.

I stiffen. "How…?"

"I saw you transform yesterday. I wish to speak with you on something that is very important but I feel uncomfortable being this close to these blood blossoms," the woman says.

I frown.

"You can stay near them as they do not harm you whilst in human form," the woman adds. "Then if I try anything, which I will not, then you can just step back into the circle and I will not be able to hurt you."

I remain silent before I decide to risk it. She's right; if I stay close to the blood blossoms then I can just step back into their circle and she will not be able to harm me. I step past the circle and am surprised by the woman in front of me.

Or rather, by her size.

She is at least two feet taller than me dressed in armor with four arms, her skin is blue and her eyes are red; in one of her hands she is carrying a spear. She gazes at me with a gentle look in her eyes as she floats backwards putting a few feet in between us and lowers her spear.

"Who are you?" I ask limping over to the tree and leaning against it so I won't be standing and putting more pressure on my leg.

"I am Pandora, guardian of this island and of the box of legend," the ghost says.

I frown. "Box of legend?"

"You have never heard of Pandora's box?" the ghost says looking surprised. "It is a box that carries the entire world's evil in it."

"Oh. And guardian of this island?" I ask.

"Yes, this island, as you may have started figuring out, is different and not just because of the ghost shield around it. I came here by accident when a natural portal opened while I was in a fight with the Fright Knight and I fell into it. I have been trapped here since."

"Natural portal?"

Pandora looks exasperated but patiently says, "There are many natural portals to the ghost zone, young halfa. No one knows where all of these natural portals are located or when they will appear. They take you to any place or any time. Some of these are temporary. Those ones open up then close and never open again. I fell through one of the temporary ones."

"Oh."

"As I told you earlier, this island is different," Pandora says. "Have you even wondered why there is a ghost shield around it?"

I frown. "Not really," I admit because I haven't. "I mean, it's not natural but I don't know why someone would want to put a ghost shield around an entire island."

Pandora shakes her head. "Young halfa, this ghost shield is not manmade. It is natural," she says.

"What? But that's impossible."

"It is possible, young halfa. There is a special crystal that can only be found deep in the ghost zone. The Ancients—"

"Who are the Ancients?" I interrupt.

Pandora looks at me with a frown. "You do not know of the Ancients?"

I think until I remember the last time I heard that term. "I remember now. They were the ones who sealed Pariah Dark away the first time," I say.

"Yes, they are one of two councils that rule the Ghost Zone; the Observants are the other though the Council of Ancients holds more power. Do you know who the Observants are?"

I nod remembering Clockwork telling me about how the Observants view life. "Yeah, Clockwork told me a bit about them," I say.

Pandora looks surprised. "You know Clockwork?" she says before murmuring something I can't hear.

I rub the back of my neck with my free hand. "Yeah," I say hoping she won't ask how I met him; I don't want to think about anything that has to do with that day. My nightmares are still there but at least they aren't too bad and I'm able to get a few hours of sleep.

Unless ghosts decide to wake me up by tossing a rock at my head.

"Clockwork is an Ancient," Pandora says, "by name anyway. Anyway, the Observants observe and the Ancients are likely to be the ones to act as they did with Pariah Dark. They were also the ones to act to choose this island and create the crystal that created a ghost shield large enough and strong enough to cover this entire island."

"But why?" I ask.

"I am getting there, young halfa," Pandora says. "When you use a ghost shield, what is it used for, young halfa?"

"To keep ghosts out," I say immediately.

"Yes but have you ever considered that a ghost shield can also be used to keep ghosts _in_?"

"In?"

"Yes. That is what this ghost shield does, young halfa. It is placed here to keep the ghosts on this island from escaping it."

I stare at her utterly confused. "But why?" I say.

"Because the ghosts on this island are powerful, deadly and vengeful. What do you know of Ancient Greece?"

"Um, not much," I admit startled by the change of subject.

Pandora sighs. "Are you familiar with the tale of Herakles?"

I give her a blank look.

"You may know him better as Hercules."

"I've seen the movie about him," I say.

Pandora sighs again. "I suppose a small history lesson is in order," she says patiently. "Herakles, known to the Romans and most others as Hercules, is the greatest Greek hero back during the times of Ancient Greece. After committing an act of murder, he was tasked with completing twelve tasks, known as labors. Four of them were to kill deadly creatures. Herakles killed all of them."

"Unfortunately, all of those creatures were filled with bloodlust and desired vengeance so much that they returned as ghosts. However, foreseeing what would happen should these four vengeful ghost-creatures be allowed to run free, Clockwork told the Ancients and the Ancients stepped in. They chose this island and created the crystal that would create the shield to keep these monsters on the island. The ghosts of all of these monsters were then transported here and left alone as the ghost shield was too powerful for them to destroy."

"This island became a place for all vengeful creatures that can cause massive amounts of damage to both mankind and ghosts if they were to return as ghosts, creatures that the Ancients, the Observants and Clockwork all agreed needed to be kept in isolation. The creatures Herakles killed during four of his labors aren't the only ones who are here but they are the most deadly."

I stare. "So my family, friends, Vlad and I have to avoid these creatures as well as find a way off this island," I say.

"Unfortunately, yes," Pandora says. "That is why I came to warn you, young halfa."

"But why?"

"I was told to."

"Told to?"

"Yes, Clockwork came to me and told me that I was to tell you about the dangers of this island. The fact that you know him explains a little why he wanted me to warn you."

I frown. "Why didn't he tell me himself?"

"I do not know. One of his messages that he wanted me to tell you is this is to help you, not to hurt you. I do not know what he means."

I sigh; another of the Master of Time's cryptic messages. "You're not the only one who never knows what Clockwork means when he says something," I say.

Pandora smiles.

"So how are you a guardian if you came here on accident?" I ask curiously remembering her mentioning that before she told me the tale of Herakles and gave me her warning.

"I am the only ghost on this island who knows who these creatures are as they were during my time," she explains.

"So can you help us?" I ask.

She shakes her head, much to my disappointment. "I am sorry, young halfa," she says regretfully. "But I do not have the power to defeat these creatures by myself. Also, Clockwork warned me that three of your companions are ghost hunters who are more likely than not to think I am the enemy."

Knowing she is right, I sigh. "So what do I do? I don't even know how to get off this island and I don't even know what these creatures are," I say.

"I will tell you this, young halfa. You will not last long against any of these creatures in your human form," Pandora says.

I grimace but I know she's right. These creatures were ghosts after all. It's not a comforting thought. "I kinda figured that," I say.

"I think I see some of your companions stirring so I must go," Pandora says peering past the reddish vapor at my companions.

"Wait, so you can't tell me what these creatures are?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I am afraid not, young halfa. Before I go, I have one more message to give to you from Clockwork. He told me to tell you that you will know and understand more in time."

_What's that supposed to mean?_ I think.

"Goodbye, young halfa, and good luck. I fear you shall need it," Pandora says before she turns and floats away disappearing into the darkness.

* * *

**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: yay! Get to use some of the creatures I learned about in my Greek Myth class in a story, woohoo!**

**Darth: awesome!**

**Danny: so what are these creatures?**

**Blaze: I ain't saying. Anyone who knows the myth of Herakles (Hercules) will know**

**Danny: please tell me (puppy dog eyes)**

**Blaze: that doesn't work on me**

**Danny: crud!**

**Vlad: GET THIS PSYCHO AWAY FROM ME!**

**Dani: who are you calling a psycho?! (Charges after Vlad with flaming machete in one hand and lightsaber in the other)**

**Blaze: did you take my flaming machete?**

**Anakin: did you take my lightsaber?**

**Dani: uh, I found 'em**

**Blaze: (sigh and pulls out another flaming machete)**

**Palpypie: hi**

**Blaze: wrong story**

**Palpypie: but Anakin's here**

**Blaze: my favorite characters are allowed in the author's notes of my stories in other fandoms, my least favorite characters are not (slams flaming machete into Palpypie and tosses him into Far Frozen)**

**Frostbite: can I freeze him?**

**Blaze: you can toss him into the Carnivorous Cavern for all I care**

**Frostbite: okay (freezes Palpypie and tosses him into Carnivorous Cavern)**

**Vlad and Dan: at least it wasn't me**

**Danny: seriously, how do you keep escaping? (Sucks Dan back into thermos and kicks Vlad into Dani)**

**Dani: (attacks Vlad with flaming machete and lightsaber)**

**Blaze: (chuckles) I don't own Star Wars by the way and I'm only saying it once. Please review and I will post chapter 5 as soon as I possibly can**


	5. Chapter Five

**Spidey2: **Thank you. Glad you liked it. Thanks for your review

**KodiakWolfe13: **Thank you for your review. I'm actually in college so that's where I took my Greek Myth class. Here's the next chapter.

**mihane100: **Yeah, I noticed that Pandora doesn't make an appearance in too many stories but I figure she fits in with my idea of including Greek Mythology in this story. Thanks for the review.

**NerdyWriterGirl: **You got three out of the four even if you don't know the name of the 'birds'. Thank you. Hope you like this chapter too.

**Jaddis**: thank you for your review. Yeah, Dan won't make an appearance physically but…well, you'll see in this chapter.

**The Talent: **I do love the mysterious Clockwork. He's always been my favorite character in the DP series. Thank you for your review.

**Well, here is the next chapter, a New Year's gift, and I hope that you like it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

I make my way back into the ring of blood blossoms, mind whirling with everything I just learned from Pandora. She didn't sound like someone who was lying to me and she was sent by Clockwork; I may not be able to trust Pandora but Clockwork is the one ghost in the entire ghost zone that I trust with my life. If he told Pandora to tell me everything she told me than it must be true.

This means that my family, my friends and Vlad are in danger yet again.

I limp over to my sleeping bag and sit down, putting the walking stick in front of me. I gaze at my family and my friends; Valerie fast asleep on her side in her sleeping bag next to a tree, my parents snuggled close together in their bag, Tucker cuddling his PDA as he slept, Sam peacefully asleep with her head resting on her arms.

The thought that the creatures Pandora warned me about might take them away from me hurt. It hurt as much as the explosion that continues to haunt me.

I know I won't be able to sleep, not with what Pandora told me looming over my head. I don't even know what these creatures are and yet they are a threat to my friends and my family and Vlad. Why can't Clockwork just tell me what I need to know? Why does he have to keep giving me these cryptic messages and hope I'll figure it out for myself?

Lying down, I gaze up at the portions of constellations I can see through the gap in the canopy above my head and through the invisible shield. _What am I supposed to do?_ I think.

I decide that the first thing I need to do is figure out what these creatures are. I'll ask Jazz in the morning and see if she knows; if anyone knows then it will be my sister. She is like a walking encyclopedia sometimes.

Then, then I don't know. Pandora already told me that I won't stand a chance against them in my human form and I wonder if that means I'll stand a chance in my ghost form. But facing these creatures in my ghost form might mean revealing my secret to my parents and Valerie. I don't know if I can do that, not only do I not know if they'll accept me but I also don't know how Valerie will react and I can't forget about Vlad.

I don't particularly care what Vlad thinks but he is powerful and he does hate my dad. Right now, he hasn't done anything and he managed to get into my mom's good graces again. It's possible he is attempting to sway me and that is why he is avoiding doing anything to my dad. However, if I reveal my secret, there is no telling what the unpredictable older halfa will do.

What Vlad might do and whether my parents will accept me or not are my biggest fears but I have lesser fears. Sam and Tucker are already in danger because they know and help me in my ghost fights. I have no doubt that if my parents and Valerie accept me then they will want to help me as well, which will put them in danger too. My enemies are not afraid to use my friends against me.

They don't deserve to be in danger constantly. I took it upon myself to defend Amity Park from the ghosts, it is partially my fault they got out because my accident was what caused the ghost portal to start functioning, and I prefer doing it by myself. Sam and Tucker refuse to let me do it alone, no matter how many times I've tried talking them out of it since I made my decision, and I doubt my ghost hunting parents or Valerie will let me do it alone either. They already fight the ghosts as it is.

I sigh. All this thinking is beginning to give me a headache but revealing my secret is an idea.

I hope I don't have to use it though.

My eyes begin to close of their own free-will and I struggle to keep them open but I'm tired and it isn't long before I'm asleep.

* * *

_I'm in a forest or what's left of a forest. Trees are uprooted and I see tremors shaking the forest floor. I realize I am in ghost form and floating above the forest rather than in it. When my ghost sense alerts me to another ghost nearby, I turn and find myself gazing into crimson eyes, eyes that have been haunting me for the past few days._

_ "Amazing isn't it?" Dan says floating around me; I spin to keep him in sight as he does this. He is as he was when I first fought him after my return from the future. His hair is in flames, the fangs in his mouth are bared in his feral-like smile._

_ "Amazing what destruction can be wrought by four kinds of creatures who were killed by the greatest warrior to ever live," Dan says. "It's a no wonder you will be unable to win, unable to beat them; you are not a hero like Herakles."_

_ "I beat you," I say mouth feeling dry._

_ Dan smirks stopping in front of me. "You took me by surprise," he says. "And you still would have lost everyone had Clockwork not intervened. Don't you see? Whether you defeat these creatures or not, you have still lost, your friends and your family are as good as dead."_

_ "You're wrong," I shout._

_ "Am I? Look around you, Danny, look at all of this, look at what these creatures can do, look and tell me that your family and friends can actually survive this." He circles me again and, when I don't respond which is an answer in itself, he says, "I am inevitable, Danny."_

_ "No, I will not become like you," I say._

_ "You will. No matter how sure you are that you won't, you will."_

_ "No, I promised," I cry._

_ Dan laughs. "You promised? What makes you think your promise is enough? What makes you think your promise can stop your family from dying? What makes you think your promise will stop you from sinking into depression? What makes you think your promise will stop you from making that fatal decision to purge yourself of emotions?"_

_ Tears appear in my eyes. I can't answer that, I can't. I don't know if my promise to not become like Dan will be enough to stop me from making the same decisions that led to Dan's creation._

_ "You can't answer," Dan whispers. "You can't answer because the answer is simple. Your childish promise is not enough, it never was."_

_ "You're wrong," I say but I find that I can't believe my own words._

_ "Am I?"_

_ I close my eyes feeling tears leak out from beneath closed eyelids. "I will not let them die," I whisper. "I won't let them die. I'll protect them."_

_ "Against creatures that you do not stand a chance at defeating?" Dan chuckles still floating around me and I open my eyes to watch him trying hard to control my emotions._

_ "I'll find a way to defeat them," I say with a confidence I'm not feeling._

_ "I know you, Danny, I know you better than anyone, better than your parents, better than your friends, better than your sister, better than you know yourself, I know you enough to know that you will not succeed. I know you because I am you."_

_ "No! I won't become like you. I'll protect them, I'll keep them safe so that I won't become like you," I cry._

_ Dan laughs. "So confident are you? Let me remind you, Danny, I'm still here, _I_ still exist and that means you still turn into me," he whispers._

_ "No!"_

* * *

My scream tears through the silence of the forest, jolting everyone who isn't awake out of their sleep. I sit up trembling, body covered in a cold sweat, eyes wild with fear, my mind fixated on Dan's emotionless blood-red eyes, his cruel words. I wrap my arms around my waist tears that I'm trying hard to control streaking down my face.

"Danny?" Mom whispers. "Danny, shh, it's okay."

I feel arms encircle me, which only succeeds in making me lose control and tears begin pouring more rapidly from my eyes. I don't know why but I latch on to my mom, burying my face into her chest and crying; crying so hard that it hurts and yet I can't stop.

I feel my mom rubbing circles into my back, murmuring soothingly though I can't make out what she's saying, I can't hear anything but my own crying and Dan's mocking words echoing in my mind.

_Whether you defeat these creatures or not, you have still lost, your friends and your family are as good as dead._

_ Look around you, look at all of this, look at what these creatures can do, look and tell me that your family can actually survive this._

_ I am inevitable._

_ I'm still here, I still exist and that means you still turn into me._

"Shh," Mom is whispering. My cries are starting to die down and I can hear her now.

"Shh, it's okay, Danny, it's okay. It was just a dream, just a dream," my mom whispers. "Shh, calm down, Danny. It's okay."

That's just it. I know that it's not okay, not with those creatures out there, deadly creatures that I don't know if I can take even in my ghost form. I don't want to tell my mom that though, not that I can since, though it's starting to die down, I can't seem to stop crying. I've never cried as hard as I am today; I suppose I probably did cry this hard in the alternate timeline after the explosion. But this is the first time in this timeline, in the timeline where I thought everything was going to be okay.

I should've known better; my life is never that easy.

I don't know how long I've been crying; all I know is when I finally stop. It's not suddenly, it's more gradual, but it does eventually come to an end.

I'm exhausted and yet I can't let go of my mom. She doesn't seem to mind though; I can feel her running a hand through my hair and rubbing circles into my back with her other hand, which seems to be stopping my trembling. "Danny?" she whispers.

Slowly, I look at my mom. She smiles gently at me, violet eyes warm, compassionate and filled with concern. She removes her hand from my hair and gently wipes my tear-stained face. "It must have been a very bad dream," she says softly.

_You have no idea,_ I think. I just nod slowly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shake my head; I can't. I can talk about it with Jazz, Sam and Tucker because they know my secret but I can't with my mom, not when I'm not sure if she'll accept me or not. I'm not even sure I _can_ talk about it with my friends or my sister; I can barely handle thinking about it.

Is this normal?

I really don't know but I'm not a psychologist so how can I know?

Mom sighs but I feel her begin stroking my hair again. "It might make you feel better if you talk about it," she says.

I shake my head again.

"It really can help," Mom says.

"Please, just…please stop," I whisper. I don't want my mom to push and I don't want to unintentionally hurt her by telling her to stop pushing.

Mom gazes at me. "Danny, I just want to help," she begins.

I know she does but I don't think that she can. I shake my head again.

"Please talk to me," Mom whispers.

"I don't think Danny's ready to talk to you or anyone, mom," Jazz says softly. "He needs to come to you on his own terms in order to start overcoming whatever it is that's bothering him. If you try to push him into talking, you'll only drive him further away. I know you want to help, mom, I do too but he needs to come to terms with this on his own before he can talk to anyone."

Jazz understands but then I knew she would. She is an up and coming psychologist and she is brilliant.

"Jazz is right. When you're ready to talk, I'll be there, sweetie," Mom says after a moment.

"Thank you," I whisper.

Mom kisses my forehead before gently releasing me and standing up. Once she releases me, I draw my knees close to me; for some reason, I find it comforting. Resting my chin on my bent knees, I notice that Sam, Tucker and Valerie look uncertain as if they want to talk to me and yet are unsure what to say. Mom talks softly to my dad who is gazing at me with concern in his eyes. Even Vlad, who is tending the fire, occasionally looks at me with what I am positive is concern in his eyes and this time I'm sure it's not a trick of the light.

The fruitloop cares? Who knew?

I guess I'm being unfair when it comes to Vlad but only marginally. It's not easy to forget what Vlad put me through at the reunion, in the Rockies, with the million-dollar bounty and with Pariah Dark. The only thing that I went through recently that Vlad isn't personally responsible for is the incident with Dan and even then, he played a part in it.

"Will Danny be all right?" Valerie asks worriedly gazing at me. My eyes are fixed primarily on the flickering flames of the fire though.

Mom sighs. "I wish I knew, Valerie," she says. "Jazz says he needs to come to terms with what's bothering him by himself but I wish I can help."

"Just being there for me is enough," I say softly still not taking my eyes off the flames. _Just being alive is enough,_ I think but don't say out loud.

"He's right," Jazz says. "He may not be ready to tell you what's bothering him but the fact that you're willing to help him is enough. He'll open up eventually, mom, he just needs time."

"But what happened that's affected him so badly?" Valerie asks.

Jazz gazes at me. "Something that's not my story to tell," she says.

Sam and Tucker look at each other but remain silent.

Jazz is the only one who knows about my nightmares, more because she was the one who first heard my screams, but she doesn't know what they're about. Sam and Tucker don't know but, as I said before, I will not be surprised if they figure it out, or did figure it out based on what Jazz just said.

Mom shakes her head as if clearing an unwanted thought. "We need to move closer to where we found the food from yesterday," she says changing the subject. "Vlad, you help Danny, I'll help Sam, Tucker, you and Valerie bring up the rear, Jazz, you and your father will lead. Okay?"

We nod.

"Okay, let's go."

I get to my feet on my own before with one hand on the walking stick, I place the other on Jazz's arm as she walks by. "Thank you," I whisper knowing she will know why I'm thanking her.

She smiles. "Anytime little bro," she says and walks over to join my dad.

Vlad douses the fire before walking over to join me. "How's the leg?" he asks casually.

"Better than yesterday," I say.

Vlad nods slowly before he and I limp, Vlad's leg is still bothering him obviously, after my parents, my sister and Sam. As we walk, though, I notice that Vlad keeps looking at me.

"What?" I say.

Vlad simply says, "I've never seen you cry like that before, little badger."

I look away blushing; I've never cried like that. To cry like that in front of my family, friends and the girl I like is bad enough, to cry like that in front of them and my archnemesis is even worse.

Not responding to Vlad's words, I ask, "Why don't you just make yourself a walking stick too?" when I notice Vlad grimace in pain as he limps over an upturned root.

"I do not need one," he says.

"And people say I'm stubborn," I mutter.

"You are little badger."

I roll my eyes. "Shut it, fruitloop," I say.

Vlad glares at me but I just give him a small smirk and limp away.

* * *

The clearing my parents choose is one that is surrounded by trees with interlacing branches that provide us with an impenetrable canopy. Only a few slivers of sunlight make it through the branches so the clearing is dark but, despite the rainstorm from a few days ago, it's dry. It's also only a few yards from where my parents, Jazz and Valerie found the food and the stream was right next to it.

I sit down back to the nearest tree I can find and I'm not too surprised when Sam and Tucker join me. Valerie starts walking over but Jazz stops her. "Why don't you help me gather some food for everyone, Valerie?" she says.

"I think that's a good idea," Mom says. "I also think we shouldn't go anywhere without at least one person with us. We still don't know what's out there and I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Jazz nods and she and a reluctant-looking Valerie leave the clearing.

Sam and Tucker sit in front of me though I see it pains Sam to move her leg. They're silent for a minute before Sam says, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you what?" I ask.

"About these nightmares," Sam says. "The way Jazz reacted told us that you've had bad ones like the one earlier before."

"Yeah, dude, and when Jazz said it wasn't her story to tell, we kinda figured it out," Tucker says.

I sigh; I knew they'd figure it out eventually, they are my best friends, they know me better than anyone despite what Dan said. "I just…I wasn't ready to talk about them," I say.

"Not even with us?" Sam sounds hurt.

I wince. "You guys are my best friends but I…" I break off before shaking my head and saying, "I haven't talked about them with anyone, Sam, not even Jazz. The only reason she knows they're nightmares is because she's the one who always hears me when I wake up from them. And I'm guessing she just guessed what they were about."

"So they are about…" Sam began.

I just look away. "It's more than that," I say. "They're about more than what happened, they're about everything that happened, most of which you two and Jazz don't know about."

"What do you mean?"

I close my eyes. "I don't want to talk about it," I whisper.

"But…"

"Sam, remember what Jazz said," Tucker says. "He'll tell us when he's ready."

"You two and Jazz will be the first to know," I assure them opening my eyes.

Sam sighs but she nods. "All right," she says. She doesn't sound like she likes it though.

A shrill scream tears through the forest and my head shoots up. "Jazz!"

A moment later, Jazz and Valerie dash into the clearing.

"What is it?" Mom demands while Sam and I, with Tucker's help, get to our feet.

"It's a Minotaur," Jazz gasps breathlessly.

"It's heading this way," Valerie adds.

"Minotaurs don't exist," Mom says.

"It looked like one though," Jazz says.

_The creatures Herakles killed during four of his labors aren't the only ones who are here…_

I wonder if this Minotaur is one of the creatures Herakles killed or if it is one of the other creatures Pandora said lived on this island. I want to ask Jazz but, for one it looks like it might not be the best time and, for another, I can't with my parents listening in. They might wonder why I'm asking about Herakles in a moment like this.

Jazz dashes over to join my parents with Valerie just behind her; she is talking rapidly, clearly trying to explain what happened and what she saw.

My ghost sense chooses that moment to go off.

Just as a glowing green skinned, crimson-eyed half-man, half-bull charges into the clearing.

* * *

**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: yay for cliffhangers!**

**Darth: (tosses Vlad and Palpypie into Carnivorous Cavern) WHY'D YOU CUT IT OFF THERE?!**

**Vlad: hey!**

**Palpypie: not again!**

**Blaze: oh shut up, you two (shoots them with candy bow and arrows)**

**Vlad and Palpypie: ow!**

**Dan: idiots**

**Danny: WILL YOU QUIT ESCAPING?! (Sucks Dan back into thermos) Clockwork, how does he keep getting out?**

**Clockwork: apparently, whoever made that thermos put the unlock button on the inside**

**Danny: (growls) just great**

**Dan: I'm back**

**Danny: (picks up brand-new thermos and sucks Dan into it) I checked this one, it doesn't have an unlock button on the inside**

**Blaze: (chuckles) please review and I will post chapter 6 as soon as I possibly can. And HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!**


	6. Chapter Six

**Meg1219: **Thank you for your review.

**KodiakWolfe13: **Thank you so much for you review and glad you like this story so far.

**Jaddis: **Poor Danny and this is only the beginning. More angst to come. Thank you for your review.

**Spidey2: **Never seen that movie before. Maybe I'll check it out. Thanks for the review.

**Here is chapter 6. I hope that you like it and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Everyone scatters as the Minotaur—if Jazz says it's one then it probably is one. Personally, I don't know if it is or not—runs across the clearing forcing Sam, Tucker and I who are at the other end of the clearing to quickly separate. Sam and I go one way while Tucker goes the other but the Minotaur, to my horror, turns to go after us.

Why me? Seriously, why can't it be someone else for once?

A large rock sails across the air and slams into the Minotaur's head before it can charge at us and it, shaking its head, turns to glare at the person responsible. Valerie, another large rock in hand, shouts, "Danny, Sam, get out of here!" before hurling another rock at the Minotaur.

"Come on," Sam says grabbing my arm and the two of us, supporting each other since we forgot to grab our walking sticks, limp toward the forest.

"Head back the way we came. We'll meet up at our last campsite," Mom shouts leaping at the Minotaur and striking it with her staff. The Minotaur, with snarl of rage, whirls and slams his huge, muscular arm into my mom sending her flying. She crashes into a tree near where Dad is standing.

"Mom!" Jazz and I scream.

"Maddie!" Dad and Vlad shout at the same time.

Dad attacks the Minotaur with the Jack-O-Nine-Tails. "No one attacks a Fenton and gets away with it," he shouts.

"Come on, we need to move," Sam says and the two of us continue limping toward the forest. I see Mom get to her feet and attack the Minotaur again while Valerie, dashing toward where we left our walking sticks, grabs them and hurries after us.

"You might be able to walk better with these," she says handing us our walking sticks. "Now let's go."

I grab the walking stick and begin heading toward our previous campsite. Sam is limping after me while Valerie, picking up a large stick, follows just behind us. I hear my mom shout, "Everyone run."

"Where?" I hear Jazz cry.

"Anywhere. It can't follow all of us."

"Its eyesight is very bad," Jazz shouts, "but its sense of smell is enhanced because of that. It can smell fear and aggression. It will go after the one who is most afraid or most aggressive."

"I didn't know aggression had a scent," I hear Tucker shout.

I don't hear Jazz's response. I'm only thankful that there is a chance the Minotaur will not go after us. I look over my shoulder as the Minotaur, possibly sensing we are attempting to escape, starts running…

…unfortunately, it's heading in our direction.

Seriously, Murphy's Law, I hate you.

Valerie gasps as the Minotaur charges into the forest, its horns sink into a tree we pass, which slows it down. But, since it is a ghost, I'm sure that it'll just turn its horns intangible; still, it buys us some time. It's slow going though; I wish I can just fly but that will be revealing my secret to Valerie and that's not something I want to do.

"Keep going," Valerie shouts as the Minotaur, turning its horns intangible, continues to run after us, its horns carving deep gashes into trees while its muscular arms breaks branches that get in its way. Why it doesn't just go intangible to avoid the trees, I don't know.

"We might have to split up," Valerie says, "confuse it."

"That's stupid. It'll go after one of us if we do that," Sam says before yelping because the Minotaur is literally right behind us. Valerie drops back and slams the stick she's carrying into the Minotaur's muzzle startling it, which buys us a minute if not less.

I know this is getting us nowhere. I need to get that Minotaur off our backs before it kills us but, in order to do that, I need to get away from Valerie. I look at Sam. "I need you and Valerie to keep moving," I whisper.

"What? Danny, we…"

"Sam, listen, I can get this Minotaur off our backs, at least long enough to give us enough time to get a good distance from it but I can't while Valerie's here."

Sam grits her teeth but nods. "Be careful," she says before she starts hobbling along while Valerie, hitting the Minotaur again, hurries after Sam not noticing that I'm not following. The instant her back is to me, I whirl around and, charging an ectoblast on my hand, unleash it. The Minotaur is sent skidding backwards giving me enough time to get into the clearing closest to me.

There, I launch more ectoblasts at the Minotaur causing it to growl in pain and fury before it charges at me. I go intangible and the Minotaur goes through me; I remain this way as it charges at me again. Then I turn and unleash an ectoblast that propels it into a tree getting its horns stuck. I hit it with another ectoblast, limp a few feet and unleash another one. I'm just thankful that I can use my powers while in human form.

I'm near the edge of the clearing when I spot it; a bush covered with blood blossoms. An idea sparks in my head and I limp over to the bush as the Minotaur charges after me. Grabbing a blood blossom, I toss it at the ghost; the response is instantaneous.

The Minotaur lets out a roar of agony. The blood blossom falls to the ground in front of it but it's still howling in agony. I grab a few more blood blossoms and limp away using the walking stick to guide me. Leaves crunch under my feet as I move but I can still hear the Minotaur's screams.

Unfortunately, while Valerie, Sam and I were running, or limping in my and Sam's case, we lost sight of the stream. That means I have no idea where I am or where they are. Hoping I'm heading in the right direction, I keep limping in the direction Valerie and Sam went.

I don't know how much time passes before I can't hear the Minotaur's screams. I don't know if that's because I'm too far away to hear it or if the blood blossom isn't affecting it anymore. Mom and Dad only said that the blood blossoms makes a ghost powerless, causes it intense agony and creates an anti-ghost shield they can't pass but they never said if the effects last forever or not.

I limp into another clearing as a shout of "Daniel!" sounds and I look up as Vlad, in ghost form, floats into the clearing.

I step back. "Don't come closer," I say.

Vlad frowns before he notices the blood-red flowers in my hands and he pales before he drifts backwards. "What happened?" He asks. "The last time I saw you was when Maddie told us to run. You, Valerie and Samantha were in the forest."

"We ran," I say, "well, as much as we can. The Minotaur came after us. I told Valerie and Sam to go ahead so I can keep it distracted with my powers. Then I found a bush of blood blossoms and threw one at it."

Vlad's lips thin but I wonder if that is a look of pride in his eyes. "Well done, Daniel," he says—is that a hint of pride in his voice?—before he transforms back into his human form and moves forward. "Come, we need to find Valerie and Samantha."

"What about Mom, Dad, Jazz and Tucker?"

"I believe they ran in the opposite direction of you," Vlad says.

"And the Minotaur?"

"The blood blossom's effects won't go away unless someone gets rid of the blood blossom and, since ghosts cannot touch it without feeling its effects, I do not see how the Minotaur will escape," Vlad says. "Come, we don't know what else is in this forest."

"I have an idea," I murmur thinking back to what Pandora told me.

Vlad looks sharply at me. "What do you mean?" he demands. "Daniel, if you know something then you must tell me."

"Will you even believe me?" I ask deciding that he should know since it looks like we're going to be lost together.

Vlad's eyebrows rose. "Is what you know so far-fetched that you actually think I won't?" he says.

I shrug. "A little. Have you heard of Pandora?"

"Yes, she was the first woman to be created by the Greek Gods in Ancient Greece who opened Pandora's box and unleashed the world's evil on the world," Vlad says. "What about her?"

"Her ghost is the guardian of this island," I say. "Earlier today, while everyone was still asleep, she woke me up asking to speak to me. I didn't exactly trust her but, with the blood blossoms around us I just stayed near them while I spoke with her. She told me that this island has a ghost shield around it 'cause it's keeping the ghosts on this island _in_ rather than keeping ghosts out. She then told me about Herakles and his labors. She said that the creatures Herakles killed in four of his labors returned as vengeful and powerful ghosts and were transported here to protect humans and ghosts."

"That is a bit far-fetched. How can you trust her to be telling you the truth?" Vlad asks.

The answer to that is simple; Clockwork sent her. But I don't want Vlad to know about Clockwork so I say, "She said she was sent by a friend to warn me."

Vlad narrows his eyes.

"And before you ask, no I won't tell you who that friend is," I say before I limp forward. "Come on, you're right. We need to find Sam and Valerie."

Vlad nods though he clearly doesn't like my evasive answer before he and I limp out of the clearing.

* * *

I don't know how long we are walking before we find Sam and Valerie; apparently, they had decided to hide in case the Minotaur was behind them. They are each in a hollow tree—huh, never knew those actually existed. This island is strange—when Vlad and I limp into the clearing. Valerie pokes her head out of the tree holding a blood blossom, she likely remembered that they make ghosts powerless, but lowers her arm when she sees who it is.

"Danny, Mr. Masters," she says climbing out of the hollow.

In the hollow of another tree, Sam pokes her head out. "Danny, are you all right?" she asks. She's also holding a blood blossom.

"I'm fine," I say.

"Where're Tucker, Jazz and your parents?"

I shake my head. "Vlad said they went in the opposite direction," I say.

"I hope they're all right," Valerie says.

"They have Maddie with them," Vlad says.

"And my dad," I say. "Both of them are a good team against ghosts."

Vlad snorts and I glare at him.

"What do we do now?" Sam asks.

"I would suggest we head back to our first campsite but I do not remember which way that is," Vlad says and looks at me.

"I lost sight of the stream around the same time I lost sight of Sam and Valerie," I say.

"I was too busy helping Sam and Sam was too busy trying not to trip to notice when we lost sight of the stream," Valerie says.

Vlad nods slowly though his expression is unreadable. "We'll have to find another source of water then and another source of food," he says.

"What about the others?" I ask.

"We don't know how far they are now and I do not think it would be safe to go back the way we came," Vlad says.

"How'd you lose the Minotaur, Danny?" Sam asks.

"I found a bush of blood blossoms and tossed one at it," I say.

"That explains why you're carrying blood blossoms around," Sam comments.

"How'd you get in there anyway?" I ask curiously.

Sam grimaces. "Not easy."

Even with Valerie's help, it still takes Sam some time to get out of the hollow in the tree. Sam then limps over to where her walking stick is and looks at Vlad. "So what now, fruitloop?" she asks.

I smirk while Vlad glowers.

"We need to find water," Vlad says. "Our best bet is to try to find water from a higher vantage point like a tree. Valerie, you're the only one who isn't injured. Do you think you can climb a tree and see where we are for one and whether there is a stream or river nearby?"

"All right, Mr. Masters," Valerie says before she walks over to the hollowed tree.

I watch as she climbs up, amazed that she can climb it as swiftly as she is. Of course, she is the least injured of all three of us but I can't even climb anything that fast when I'm not injured. Granted, before I started ghost fighting, I couldn't climb anything period. Now, I might be able to.

Anyway, Valerie is out of sight and I can see the tree start to sway close to its top. I hold my breath, a little afraid that she might fall. But she doesn't; I lose sight of her after about five minutes though. I'm still gazing at the tree trying to see Valerie but the foliage is making it difficult.

I don't know how much time passes before Valerie reappears climbing the remaining feet to the ground before leaping off the lowest branch. "I saw a river, or a stream, not sure which, in that direction," Valerie says pointing to the right of where we're standing. "We're also pretty far from the beach but I couldn't see the stream."

"The stream was well covered," Vlad says. "Any signs of anything else?"

Valerie shakes her head.

"Then we'll head in that direction." Vlad places a hand on my shoulder, ignoring the glare I gave him, before he guides me in the direction Valerie had indicated. Valerie looks at Sam who glares at her.

"I'm fine," she says before she hobbles after Vlad and I.

Valerie, with a frown, falls into step beside Sam. "I've been meaning to ask you this, Sam. Why do you still not like me?"

Sam is silent for a moment. "I don't dislike you, Valerie," she says. "But I barely know you."

"You don't take the time to get to know me, Sam. I think Danny's the only one outta all three of you that knows anything about me."

"It's not easy to just forget how you treated us before, Valerie."

"I've changed."

"She has changed, Sam," I say looking over my shoulder at Sam shrugging Vlad's hand off my other shoulder at the same time. "Maybe she's right and you should take the time to get to know her."

"I'd much rather get off this island," Sam says flatly.

"I think all of us would prefer that," I say deciding that, while I would like my friend and my crush to get along, this isn't the time to worry about that.

Valerie nods in agreement. "I hope dad's not worrying. I told him I'd call when we reached Paris," she says.

I'm hoping my parents, Jazz and Tucker are all right. Though I've had a busy day since I woke up, my nightmare is still at the back of my mind; I'm still scared for them. I don't want to lose them; I don't think I can handle losing them.

_Stop with those thoughts, Fenton,_ I tell myself.

We walk for a while resting constantly. I don't know how long we've been walking before Vlad decides to have Valerie climb another tree to see how far we are from the river. While she does that, Vlad says we should rest. Putting the blood blossoms on the ground, I rest my back against the tree and gaze at the sky above our head.

Vlad follows my gaze. "Did you ever learn if the shield is natural or not, Daniel?" he asks.

"Pandora said that it's natural," I say.

Vlad frowns. "I've never heard of a natural ghost shield that can cover an entire island," he says.

"Who's Pandora?" Sam asks.

"She's the guardian of this island," I say before I tell Sam everything that Pandora told me.

Sam frowns. "And she said that the creatures that Herakles killed are on this island and are vengeful and dangerous?" she asks.

I nod.

"How can we trust her word?"

"A certain friend told her and I'd trust this friend any _time_," I say stressing the last word on purpose. Vlad doesn't seem to understand but I know Sam gets it immediately for she nods.

"If you trust what Pandora said then so do I," she says. "Your friend has never steered us wrong before."

"Who is this friend, Samantha?" Vlad asks.

Sam snorts. "If Danny didn't tell you, what makes you think I will?" she says.

"Do you know what these creatures are?" I ask.

Sam shakes her head.

"I only remember one," Vlad says though I hear a little irritation in his voice. "Cerberus." Seeing the puzzled look in my eyes, he sighs and adds, "Cerberus is a giant three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades, or the Underworld, before it was killed by Herakles."

Valerie jumps down from the last branch as Vlad finishes speaking before she walks over to join us. "We're getting close," she says.

"How far away would you say?" Vlad asks.

Valerie presses her lips together. "I'm not sure exactly, maybe half a mile?"

Vlad nods before he pushes himself to his feet and holds out a hand to help me up. Grabbing the walking stick with my other hand, I take his hand and get to my feet. Valerie helps Sam up and we start walking again.

My stomach chooses that moment to remind me I haven't eaten all day. I blush when everyone looks at me. "What? I haven't eaten anything all day," I say.

"Why don't you just eat one of those blood blossoms you've been carrying around?" Valerie suggests.

I try to think of a good enough excuse not to; it's not going so well.

"There may be more ghosts around, Valerie. I do not think we should risk it. He didn't bring many with him as it is," Vlad says. "I am sure we'll find something to eat soon. If it was a river you saw then there may be fish though catching the fish will be difficult."

"How would you catch fish without a fishing rod or bait?" Valerie asks.

Vlad shrugs. "I do not know. That's why it will be difficult."

"Must be different from what you're used to, eh, fruitloop?" I can't help but say.

"So it isn't different from what you're used to, little badger?" Vlad asks.

I shrug. "I've gone camping before. Have you?"

"It may have been a while but yes."

"Shocker. When was that? Forty years ago?"

Vlad rolls his eyes. "I wasn't even alive forty years ago."

"Wow, I learn something new each day. I thought you were born fifty years ago," I say in feigned shock.

Vlad scowls. "Did you just call me old?" he demands.

"No, I said you were born fifty years ago. When we get back to the states, you should get your hearing checked, old man."

Vlad glares.

I smirk while Sam is trying, and failing, to not snicker.

Valerie sighs. "Why don't you like Mr. Masters, Danny?" she asks.

_He wants to kill my dad, marry my mom and make me his son and evil apprentice,_ I think. All I say is "It's a long story, too long to tell. Shouldn't we get moving?"

"Valerie, why don't you and Samantha go on ahead? Daniel and I will bring up the rear," Vlad says.

Valerie nods.

Sam looks at me worried but she nods and she and Valerie walk into the forest.

Vlad places a hand back on my shoulder and I clench my teeth to stop the cry of pain from escaping my lips when he sends a jolt of electricity through me. "That was for calling me old," he growls.

"Hey, just speaking the truth, V-man," I say with a smirk and limp forward ignoring the glare Vlad gives me.

* * *

**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: well, that's chapter 6**

**Darth: so we know the name of one of the four creatures Danny and co. are gonna have to face**

**Blaze: anyone who knows the twelve labors Herakles (Hercules) had to complete will know the others easily**

**Darth: and those who don't?**

**Blaze: they'll have to wait until later chapters**

**Darth: so the first of the four creatures Danny and co. will have to face is the Cerberus?**

**Blaze: (shrugs) I no wanna spoil nothing so I ain't saying. Please review and I will post chapter 7 as soon as I possibly can**


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